BBC-Burma activists to be deported

[hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Friday, August 14, 1998 Published at 15:17 GMT 16:17 UK 

Burma activists to be deported 


A group of 18 foreign activists sentenced to five-years hard labour by a
Burmese court will be deported. 

Witnesses said that minutes after the court had imposed the sentence a
letter arrived from Burma's Ministry of Home Affairs announcing that so
long as the prisoners committed no further violation of Burmese law, they
would be deported within the next 24 hours. 

According to reports, the letter said the releases were to promote good
relations between Burma and countries from which the activists came. 

The group was detained by military authorities on Sunday for handing out
leaflets telling Burmese people that the outside world supported their
struggle for democracy. 

Guilty plea 

The activists pleaded guilty to violating sedition laws, allowing the
authorities to hand out a maximum 20-year jail sentence for attempting to
incite unrest or disrupt the peace and stability of the state. 

BBC South-East Asia Correspondent, Simon Ingram: "It was unclear until the
last minute which way the court would go"The group was questioned for six
days but Friday's trial lasted a matter of hours. 

The activists include six Americans, three Indonesians, three Malaysians,
three Indonesians, two Filipinos and an Australian. 


International pressure 

The BBC South-East Asia Correspondent, Simon Ingram, says that by going
ahead with the trial the Burmese authorities are keen to send a deterrent
message to their critics. 

A United States congressman, Chris Smith, who is in Bangkok hoping to visit
Burma had demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the
activists. 

Mr Smith, who chairs the House International Operations and Human Rights
subcommittee, has a constituent among the activists. 

"The longer this goes on, the more the government of Burma will come under
international scrutiny," said Mr Smith before the verdict was announced. 

"From a public relations point of view, this is a disaster." 

Earlier this year a British activist, James Mawdsley, was arrested in
similar circumstances and sentenced to five years in jail. He was freed
last week after three months and is now in hospital in the UK. 

Suu Kyi road block 

Meanwhile, the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is spending a third day
at a road block outside Rangoon where she is being prevented from visiting
her supporters. 

The government says an ambulance is on standby at the spot in case Ms Suu
Kyi should fall ill. 

"There are not many ambulances in Yangon, however, and the government hopes
that Ms Suu Kyi and her companions will return home soon so that ambulance
and medical staff may be put back to use helping the truly needy," the
government statement said. 

In a bizarre touch officials added that "in order to provide for their
comfort and welfare, government officials have provided a beach umbrella,
some garden chairs and a selection of journals to help Ms Suu Kyi pass the
time."