The Canberra Times, Burma protest t

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Subject: The Canberra Times, Burma protest turns ugly

Flags burned, fences smashed as Burma protest turns ugly

The Canberra Times Friday September 10, 1999

    About 200 protesters burned flags, smashed fences and hurled pot plants 
at the Burmese embassy in Canberra yesterday after a peaceful sit-in turned 
ugly.

    Police and Australian Protective Service officers had to call for help 
after being overwhelmed by the demonstration against Burma's ruling military 
junta.

    Demonstrators burned a Burmese flag outside the embassy and charged 
through 15 police and broke through fences to enter the grounds.

    "We intend to stay here until the Burmese dictators allow democratic 
government," protest organiser Maung Maung Than said.

    After police reinforcements arrived, the protesters were dragged away 
one be one, sparking ugly scenes as organisers traded blows with authorities 
on the kerb outside.

    The protest was organised by the 9999 Action Committee, a loose 
coalition of Burmese-Australian democratic action groups formed as part of a 
world-wide protest to mark the August 8, 1988, or 8888, uprising against the 
Rangoon dictatorship.

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