The Nation-Junta bows to pressure a

[hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

The Nation
August 15,1998
Junta bows to pressure and deports activists

A BURMESE court on Friday sentenced 18 foreign activists who were detained
on Sunday for handing out democracy leaflets to five years in prison with
hard labour, but suspended the penalty and ordered their deportation. 

Moments after a judge sentenced the activists to prison terms, an official
from the Ministry of Home Affairs read an order reducing the sentences and
said that the activists would be expelled on the condition they not violate
Burma's laws again. 

He asked diplomats representing the activists from six Asian and Western
nations, to arrange for their deportation on Saturday. 

The defendants, who appeared solemn when the judge read out the five-year
sentence, jumped up, embraced each other, shook hands and thanked those
around them in the courtroom after the deportation order was announced. 

They were also embraced by diplomats from their respective countries who
attended the one-day trial in a small concrete courthouse outside the walls
of Insein Prison north of Rangoon. 

The six Americans, three Malaysians, three Indonesians, three Thais, two
Filipinos and one Australian were charged, after six days of questioning
and investigation, with violating section 5 of the 1950 Emergency Provision
Act. 

The sweeping law allows for 20-year maximum jail terms for inciting unrest
and disturbing the peace and tranquility of the state. 

The reduction in the sentences came after one of the defendants, a
Malaysian man, appealed to the judge. He said he and his colleagues meant
no harm to the people of Burma, and didn't intend to incite unrest and were
unaware of the local laws. 

The judge then stepped down from his chair and allowed the official from
the Ministry of Home Affairs to read the order deporting them. 

Some observers said the episode appeared to have been pre-planned. The
Burmese government was caught between trying to discourage foreign
activists from coming and inciting the population, and souring relations
with foreign powers. 

Foreign Ministry spokesman Kobsak Chutikul on Friday welcomed the move,
saying the Thai government appreciated that the Burmese government acted in
line with legal procedures. 

''Thailand also appreciates the fact that this indicates that Burmese
authorities are sensitive to international concerns and have acted in
accordance with humanitarian principles,'' Kobsak said. 

''With this experience, we feel that the Burmese government has become more
open and seems to be ready to engage in dialogue with outside parties,''
the spokesman said. 

The incident served as a reminder to the government to allow the issue to
proceed through the right channels. ''Before, we tended to allow matters to
be resolved at the leaders' level when bilateral problems occured, skipping
the normal procedures,'' he said. 

According to the rules, deportation will take place within 24 hours of the
court's decision. 

The group will return to Bangkok on the Burmese national carrier and are
expected to arrive at about 9 am this morning. Earlier in the day at a
press conference in Bangkok, their weeping and angry relatives appealed for
their release. 



The Nation, Agencies