[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

Detainees in Myanmar to get harsher



Detainees in Myanmar to get harsher punishment next time: envoy

       Sat 15 Aug 98 - 12:49 GMT 

       MANILA, Aug 15 (AFP) - Foreign activists recently deported from
Myanmar are being threatened with even sterner
       punishment if they try to repeat their action, the Philippine
ambassador in Yangon warned here Saturday.

       Sonia Brady was quoted in a report as saying, "if they were to
return to Myanmar in the future and violate their laws,
       they would serve not only the sentence that would be imposed upon
them but also the sentence condoned" on Friday.

       Two Filipinos were among 18 foreign activists detained in Myanmar
this week for distributing pro-democracy leaflets.

       The 18 -- including six US nationals, three Thais, three Malaysians,
three Indonesians and one Australian -- were
       deported Saturday as opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi dug in for
the fourth day of a roadside stand-off with the
       ruling military.

       They were sentenced to five years hard labour by a court in Myanmar
Friday for attempting to incite unrest but the
       penalties were suspended and they were deported.

       Brady said Yangon deported the group "on the condition that they do
not violate the country's laws again."

       She also said the detainees had argued they were "not aware of the
customs of the country and did not intend to come
       for the purpose of inciting unrest. They also said they did not mean
any harm by distributing leaflets."

       Philippine Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon welcomed the release of
the Filipinos, saying, "we are heartened by the
       decision made by the Myanmar government to condone the sentences."

       He said, "we are gratified that Myanmar took positive action with
respect to this case and we hope that similar
       positive action could be taken with respect to other pressing
matters confronting the government there."

       Observers said this was an apparent reference to the Myanmar junta's
efforts to prevent opposition leader Aung San
       Suu Kyi from meeting her followers.

       A Malaysian human rights group, meanwhile, slammed the country's
foreign ministry for its "callous and irresponsible"
       attitude towards three local activists who were among those arrested
in Myanmar.

       Suara Rakyat Malaysia chided Foreign Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi,
who reportedly said he finds it "difficult to
       sympathise with Malaysians who go to other countries and consciously
create trouble or break the laws.

       "This statement is most callous and irresponsible," the group's
spokesperson Kua Kia Soong said in a statement.

       "It stands out in direct contrast to the caring, positive and
proactive attitude exhibited by the foreign ministries of all the
       other countries whose nationals were victims of the Burmese
government's actions."

       The group urged for a clarification on the "behaviour and actions"
of the foreign ministry over the matter.

       On Friday, the United States welcomed Myanmar's decision to expel
the US activists but said their arrest was just
       one example of the junta's abuses.

       Seeking Japanese support for her campaign to get the junta and its
critics talking, Secretary of State Madeleine
       Albright said efforts to promote dialogue in Myanmar had reached a
"moment of truth."

       Albright also noted that Aung San Suu Kyi has called for the
convening August 21 of opposition MPs elected in
       1990. They have been barred from taking their seats by the country's
military leaders.