Fwd: Protesters chained to Junta em

[absdf88@xxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Fwd: Protesters chained to Junta embassy, hauled off to jail:

Kiosk 10/27
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>From: <nculwell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>X-Sender: nculwell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Unverified)
>Date: Tue, 27 Oct 1998 10:41:40 -0500
>To: free-burma@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: Protesters chained to Junta embassy, hauled off to jail: Kiosk
> 10/27
>Reply-To: nculwell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Sender: owner-free-burma@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>This kiosk contains:
>
>	1)  FBC Update
>	2)  Protesters chained to Myanmar embassy, hauled off to jail
>	3)  13 Protesters Arrested at Burmese Embassy: The Washington Post
>
>                  
>Dear Fellow Free Burma Activists and Supporters:
>
>The working conference of the FBC at American University was attended by
about 200 student and community activists.  The conference ended with a
very well-organized protest demo in front of the junta's embassy at 2300 S
St., NW.  Close to 100 demonstrators from various human rights and
environmental communities, as well as from amongst the conference  who
stayed on until Monday participated in it.
>
>DC-area TV stations -- channels 4,5, and 7 covered the event while The
Washington Post, The Washington Times, and a number of international news
agencies including UPI, Nikkei, and AFP came to report the story. 
>
>The 13 spiders -- all American citizens- who chained themselves to the
railing of the embassy stairs and remained there for about an hour, spent
the night in jail.  Two lawyers  from a top DC law firm are working on
their case pro bono.  The Burmese dissident community in DC and the exiles
who came to attend the conference and participated have been very
supportive of civil disobedience these 13 spiders conducted.
>
>There will be an arraignment at 1:30 pm today at a federal court in DC,
and the support team, as well as the lawyers are prepared to get them out
as soon as possible. (Federal Court House 333 Constitution Ave is the
address).
>
>We thank everyone of you who helped with the conference and the wrap-up
protest.
>
>The pictures of the protests and conference will be up at our website soon.
>
>peace, love, and hope,
>
>Free Burma Coalition
>***************************
>
>Copyright 1998 Agence France Press
>                              Agence France Presse
>
>                          October 26, 1998  18:32 GMT
>
>SECTION: Domestic, non-Washington, general news item
>
>LENGTH: 416 words
>
>HEADLINE: Protesters chained to Myanmar embassy, hauled off to jail
>
>DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Oct 26
>
>BODY:
>   A dozen activists protesting Myanmar's government chained themselves to
its
>embassy Monday until uniformed Secret Service agents cut them free and
dragged
>them off to jail.
>
>   As about 50 demonstrators and onlookers gathered across the street, 12
>activists from the Free Burma Coalition chained themselves to each other
and to
>the embassy's front entrance with bicycle locks.
>
>   Two of the activists, 21-year-old Nisha Anand and 20-year-old Sapna
Chhatpar,
>were among the six Americans detained in Yangon in August for handing out
>pro-democracy leaflets in the Myanmar capital.
>
>   That group was sentenced to hard labor for inciting unrest and
subsequently
>released.

>
>   Along with much of the crowd, they chanted "Free Burma" and "Long live
Aung
>San Suu Kyi" for the hour the protest went on, referring to Myanmar's
>pro-democracy leader.
>
>   Uniformed Secret Service agents arrived at the embassy shortly after the
>protest began, photographing protesters and blocking off the tree-lined
street.
>
>   They then summoned the metropolitan fire department to remove the bicycle
>locks with which the activists had chained themselves, some around their
necks,
>to the embassy entrance.
>
>   The protesters were then escorted or dragged into waiting police vans and
>whisked away to a local jail.
>
>   Secret Service agents refused to speak to journalists, and it wasn't
>immediately clear how much money the Free Burma Coalition would have to
post in
>bail or how long the activists would remain in jail.
>
>   Larry Dohrs, an anti-Myanmar activist based in Seattle, Washington, was
>inside the embassy for 25 minutes requesting a tourist visa application
when the
>protest erupted.
>
>   Embassy staff appeared surprised by the event, which they videotaped
through
>the windows, Dohrs told AFP.
>
>
>
>   The activists could face federal charges for interfering with the
operations
>of a legal foreign mission, but organizers regard misdemeanor charges as more
>likely.
>
>   "We want to show support for pro-democracy forces in Rangoon," said Jed
>Greer, a student at Yale Law School who watched as the firefighters went to
>work.
>
>   Other arrested activists were Michael Beer, 35; Alanna Bolan, 19; Joshua
>Buck, 21; Sarah Capper, 19; Sean Fulkerson, 20; Carwil James, age unknown;
Rena
>Madan, 26; Jordan Silverman, age unknown; Lelia Spears, 18; and Jeremy
Woodrum,
>21.
>
>   None of those chained to the embassy was a Myanmar national, organizers
said,
>because arrest could mean deportation for those here as political asylees.
>
>   sjh/xb
>
>LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
>
>LOAD-DATE: October 26, 1998
>*******************************************
>
>                     Copyright 1998 The Washington Post
>                              The Washington Post
>
>
>                    October 27, 1998, Tuesday, Final Edition
>
>SECTION: METRO; Pg. B05; CRIME & JUSTICE
>
>LENGTH: 659 words
>
>HEADLINE: CRIME & JUSTICE
>
>BODY:
>
>   THE DISTRICT
>
>   13 Protesters Arrested at Burmese Embassy
>
>   Thirteen men and women who chained themselves to the fence of the Burmese
>Embassy yesterday were arrested after they refused to move when ordered by
>police, a Uniformed Secret Service spokeswoman said.
>
>   About 40 supporters of the Free Burmese Coalition began their
demonstration
>at 11 a.m. at the embassy, in the 2300 block of S Street NW. The military
>government in Burma, also known as Myanmar, has faced months of pressure over
>alleged human rights violations.
>
>   The demonstrators who chained themselves to the fence were accused of
>violating a federal law aimed at protecting foreign embassies, spokeswoman
Chaun
>Yount said. If convicted, they could face fines of up to $ 500 or serve six
>months in jail.
>