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NLD YOUTHS SENTENCED-YINDEE



SLORC MAY BE SHOWING STRAIN AS THREE NLD MEMBERS JAILED FOR TWO
YEARS
 
Yindee Lertcharoenchok
The Nation/24.11.95
 
The Burmese junta on Monday sentenced three members of the youth
wing of the National League for Democracy, the main opposition
party, to two years' imprisonment on charges of disrupting civil
order and assaulting police officers, an informed sources in
Rangoon said. 
 
The source said the Burmese media did not publicize the arrests
or the sentences handed to the three NLD members, identified as
Toe Aung, Maung Aye and Myo Zaw.
 
According to the source, four NLD youth members were arrested
last Saturday when they tried to negotiate with police who were
erecting a barbed-wire barricade in an attempt to stop people
gathering to hear NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi's weekend speech.
 
One was released the same day while the rest were charged with
disrupting civil order.
 
The source said on Monday the three were charged with assaulting
police officers and subsequently sentenced to two-year jail
terms. 
 
Since her release in July after nearly six years of house arrest,
Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner, has made an
appearance every weekend in front of her house on University
Avenue to give a speech.
 
The Burmese junta, known as the State Law and Order Restoration
Council (Slorc) has so far tolerated her behaviour and even
allowed the foreign media and diplomats to visit her home.
 
The road blockade last Saturday was the first sign that Slorc is
becoming less tolerant toward Suu Kyi's weekly appearances,
during which she often calls on citizens to be patient in their
long wait for political reform.
 
It was also the first time Slorc arrested members of the public
or NLD attempting to listen to Suu Kyi's speeches.
 
The source said despite the Slorc's attempt to bar the public,
about 500 people turned up on Saturday at Suu Kyi's house.
 
The source added that the barricade was not removed after the
speech and that Slorc has increased the number of secret police
and troops around University Avenue.
 
Suu Kyi has become more vocal recently as Slorc shows no interest
in opening talks with her.