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Reuters-Myanmar exiles say 29 face



Subject: Reuters-Myanmar exiles say 29 face seven years hard labour 

Myanmar exiles say 29 face seven years hard labour
02:07 a.m. Aug 27, 1999 Eastern
BANGKOK, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Myanmar dissidents in exile said on Friday that
29 students who took part in an anti-government protest earlier this month
had been charged under an emergency law and faced jail terms of up to seven
years with hard labour.

The All Burma Students' Democratic Front said the 29 -- aged between 14 and
23 -- were arrested after a protest against the ruling military in the
southern Myanmar town of Mergui on August 12.

It said another demonstration was reported to have occurred in the town on
August 16, when students demanded the release of those detained and more
were arrested.

``We understand that several more were arrested but we don't know the exact
number,'' ABSDF general secretary Aung Thu Nyein told Reuters.

Officials of Myanmar's military government were unavailable for immediate
comment.

The government has said it arrested 36 people in connection with activities
to instigate unrest on September 9, 1999 -- the so-called ``four nines
day'' -- when dissidents in exile have called for an uprising against
military rule.

It said 19 people, including 17 high school students, were being questioned
in Mergui following the demonstration there.

Dissident groups in exile say more than 150 people have been arrested this
month in connection with the uprising call.

The dissidents picked four nines days for its numerical significance after
``four eights day'' -- August 8, 1988 -- which saw the start of a nationwide
uprising for democracy crushed by the military that year.