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Reuters-Relief greets news Myanmar



Relief greets news Myanmar to deport activists 
11:37 a.m. Aug 14, 1998 Eastern 

SINGAPORE, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Myanmar's decision on Friday to deport 18
foreign pro-democracy activists brought a collective sigh of relief from
the activists' home nations. 

The deportation order came moments after a Myanmar court sentenced the
activists to five years' jail for handing out thousands of leaflets in the
capital, Yangon, last Sunday. 

Six Americans, three Thais, three Malaysians, three Indonesians, two
Filipinos and an Australian were handing out leaflets that urged Myanmar to
remember an uprising against the nation's military rulers 10 years ago. 

``I feel relieved,'' Philippine foreign undersecretary Lauro Baja told
reporters in Manila after news of their release. 

``They have to satisfy their legal processes. They have proven their
point,'' he said. 

The activists' home nations had been lobbying hard for their release and
voiced hopes that all 18 would be deported, but that wish seemed dashed for
a few minutes in the Yangon courtroom. 

Moments after the sentences were handed down, the court received written
orders from the Ministry of Home Affairs instructing it to release the
prisoners. 

``That is great and wonderful news, that is what we expected and that's
what will happen,'' said Kelly Keegan, mother of 19-year-old U.S. detainee
Michelle Keegan. 

``Michelle and all 17 others will be home tomorrow,'' she told a U.S. radio
station. 

In Australia, the family of Sydney activist Alison Vicary were also said to
be relieved but not surprised by the outcome. 

``Our consular prople have been in touch with the family and obviously they
are very pleased and relieved with the outcome,'' an Australian foreign
ministry spokesman told Reuters. 

The activists had pleaded guilty to the charges laid under Myanmar's
sweeping 1950 Emergency Act. 

But U.S. Republican legislator Chris Smith, speaking from Bangkok, said the
18 had done nothing more than promote universal human rights which Myanmar
was obliged by treaty law to uphold. 

``These kids didn't do anything wrong really,'' said Smith, chairman of the
House sub-committee on international operations and human rights. 

``They simply promoted human rights and we ought to be giving them a medal
rather than a suspended sentence,'' he told British Broadcasting Corp
television from Bangkok. 

International attention has returned to Myanmar in recent weeks, as
opposition leader and 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi
stepped up political pressure on the ruling junta in the run-up to last
week's ``four eights'' anniversary. 

On August 8, 1998, unrest for democracy in Myanmar erupted into a popular
uprising which was stamped out by the military in a crackdown that is said
to have killed thousands. 

The government says the death toll was only a few dozen. 

Suu Kyi, in her second attempt in a month to visit opposition supporters in
the country's west, has been stopped by the military by a road outside
Yangon. 

The government, criticised internationally for its treatment of Suu Kyi,
said on Friday it had provided a beach umbrella, garden chairs, magazines
and other comforts for her. 

The trip is a repeat of one last month that led to a six-day standoff in
her car and was ended forcibly on July 29 when the authorities drove her
back to the capital.