AP-Protester Sentenced in Myanmar

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Reply-To: "TIN KYI" <tinkyi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Thursday September 16 3:45 PM ET

Protester Sentenced in Myanmar

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - A British activist was sentenced to seven years in
prison Thursday for protesting Myanmar's military regime by chaining herself
to a lamppost and shouting pro-democracy slogans.

Prosecution witnesses, including police and a passer-by, said about 1,000
people gathered to watch Rachel Goldwyn's protest in downtown Yangon, the
capital, on Sept. 7. There were no defense witnesses.

Goldwyn, 28, of London, received the maximum possible sentence on the charge
of committing actions likely to cause public unrest.

Asked by the judge if she was guilty, she admitted the facts of her case but
denied that her motive was to disrupt stability.

``My demonstration was to show the extent of control,'' she said. ``It was
not to undermine stability. I did not want anybody to take any risk and I
did not want anybody to be arrested.''

Her lawyer said he would appeal.

The sentence in the Southeast Asian country also known as Burma drew shock
from Goldwyn's family in London.

Her mother, Charmian Goldwyn, said she was ``absolutely desperate'' and
feared for her daughter's health and safety.

``I just couldn't believe it,'' she said. ``We all cry, and then cry again
all the time.''

Two weeks ago, another British activist, 26-year-old James Mawdsley, was
sentenced to 17 years' imprisonment for entering Myanmar illegally and
carrying anti-government literature. He had been deported twice before and
spent 99 days in solitary confinement in Myanmar last year.

Meanwhile, the country's main opposition force, the National League for
Democracy, declared on Thursday it would never relinquish its 1990 election
victory that the ruling military refuses to recognize.

The NLD, led by 1991 Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, also said it
would not dissolve a 10-member committee set up a year ago to represent the
parliament that was never convened.

The government views the committee as a direct challenge to its legitimacy
and has branded it a blatant violation of the law.