BURMESE JUNTA JAILS NLD MP FROM KAC

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Subject: BURMESE JUNTA JAILS NLD MP FROM KACHIN STATE




Media Release - 12/99
February 16, 1999

                                    
              BURMESE JUNTA JAILS NLD MP FROM KACHIN STATE
         THE MP JAILED FOR POSSESSING OPIUM OIL FOR MEDICAL USE

On February 1, 1999, Burmese military regime sentenced a Kachin
Member of Parliament (MP) from the National League for Democracy
(NLD) to 5 and a half years imprisonment with hard labour for
possessing a tiny amount of opium oil for medical use, according
to sources on the China-Burma border.

U Yaw Hsi, 51, an MP from Putao township in the Northernmost part
of Burma was arrested in October last year during a raid at his
home in Putao in Kachin State, in which the police found among
papers a rag soaked with opium oil. The cloth weighed about 3.4
milligrams. U Yaw Hsi however was arrested and charged with
possessing the illicit drug.

According to locals, it is common in upper Kachin State that they
keep small pieces of rags or cloth soaked in opium oil for use as
a traditional cure for dysentery and other minor illnesses.

Despite the fact that the Burmese military is known to be heavily
involved with drug trafficking, it regularly suppresses small
time drug traffickers in the pretext of anti-narcotic efforts. 

In the case of U Yaw Hsi, the motive was clearly political, as
the quantity involved was so small, and as the widespread use of
drug for medical purposes is normally of no concern to the
military authorities. 

U Yaw Hsi has no connection with narcotics production of dealing
in the area. It appears obvious that he was singled out for
prosecution, as he is an NLD MP.

U Yaw Hsi left for the jungle in 1991 to join up with exiled NLD
MPs.

However, he surrendered to the military in 1994 after the Kachin
Independence Army signed a cease-fire agreement with the military
junta. Since his return, the military have wanted to arrest U Yaw
Hsi on political charges but have been unable to do so.

This incident is reminiscent of that of Dr. Tin Min Htut, another
NLD MP from Pantanaw township, who was detained in 1997 for
alleged possessing illegal currency because during a police raid
at him home, they found two Singaporean coins in the toy cup his
son was playing with.  

All Burma Students' Democratic Front


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