Protest letter by U Aung Shwe dated

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Subject: Protest letter by U Aung Shwe dated March 28, 1996


The following is the official translation of the protest letter by NLD 
against lawless proceeding of the Slorc.

Official Translation
Senior General than Shwe
Chairman
State law and Order Restoration Council

date: 28 March 1996

Subject matter: Protest against lawless proceeding:

1. The primary political objectives of the State Law and Order Restoration
Council include the "prevalence of law and order." However with regard to
members of the national League for Democracy and to those associated with
the NLD, it can be seen that the actions of the authorities are not in
accordance with the laws in fact they are consistently of a lawless
nature. 

2. The following illustrate some lawless proceedings. (Detains can be
found in the attaches appendix.)

	(A) With regard to an incident of 18-11-95, three people including
U Thein Nyunt of the NLD, were charged with obstructing an official in the
performance of his duties. Without adequate evidence each of the defendant
were meter out prison sentences of two years, the maximum penalty
allowable under the offense with which they were charged. 
	(b) On 6-11-95, Ko Khin Tun who was in charge of the youth wing of
the Pegu Division NLD was arrested. From the time of his arrest until his
trial was allowed no legal defense of any kind.  Moreover he received a
heavy prison sentence of four years and three months.
	(c) On 10-1-96 four people, including the comedian from Mandalay, U
pa Lay, were arrested. the four were subsequently charged and during their
trial on 18-3-96 no defense lawyers were allowed to be present. the
defendants were summarily sentenced to 7 years imprisonment each. the lack
of justice in the conduct of this case is made particularly obvious by the
fact that obstacles were created to prevent U Kyi Maung, U Tin U, Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi and U Win Stein from going to Mandalay to appear as witnesses
for the defense. Such conduct constitutes violation of individual rights,
it is dishonorable and moreover it is contrary to the law.
	(d) Twenty-eight men including U Win Tin, who are currently serving
long prison sentences in Insein Jail, have been charged with committing
additional offenses while in prison and trials have been conducted within
the jail precincts since November. To this day it has not been permitted
to provide the defendants with legal assistance.
	(e) U Saw Hlaing who was involved in a motor accident near Taungu
during the early morning of 15-3-96 was not only denied access to legal
assistance, he was summarily tried within the precincts of Kyungon police
station in a way contrary to existing laws and given the maximum penalty
of 5 years imprisonment. it should be noted that the section under which
he was charged does not in fact apply to his case but was deliberately
chosen for the heavy penalty it entailed. 

Appendix

The case of the  three including U Thein Nyunt
	the defendants were accused of trying to remove barbed wire
barricades placed to regulate traffic in front of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's
house on 18-11-95 and charged under section 353, obstructing a public
servant in the performance of the duties. Although the evidence of the
witnesses for the persecution made it clear that the said section of the
law was not applicable in this case, U Thein Nyunt, Ko Toe Aung and Ko Myo
Zaw were each given the maximum penalty of 2 years imprisonment. 

The case of Ko Khin Tun (NLD Youth)
	Ko Khin Htun was arrested on 6-11-95. On going to visit a friend
serving a sentence in Insein Jail, he had taken a photograph of the said
friend whom he saw laboring at a vegetable plot outside the jail compound.
he was charged under section 5 (d) and section 42 (prison regulations
act.) he was not allowed any contact with his family. Although he asked
for the services of a lawyer from the time he was first tried his request
was not granted. Only 70 days later, on 17-1-96, the last day of his
trial, was he permitted the services of a lawyer. On that day, the crucial
evidence, the film concerned, could not be produced. Nor was the member of
the prison staff who was the principal witness for the prosecution present
for cross examination. Further, Ko Khin Htun was not given adequate
opportunity to defend himself. He was sentenced to 4 years and 3 months
imprisonment. 

the case of the four including U Pa pa Lay
	U pa pa Lay was one of the entertainers in the "Myodaw Win Mar
Dance Troupe" which performed at the Independence ceremony held within the
precincts of Do Aunt San Suu Kyi's home. U Pa Pa Lay and U Lu Zaw were
accused of inciting the audience to unseemly behavior and harming state
security by word and action and charged under section 5(e); while U Ht. 
and U Aung Soe who had helped the dance troupe were charged under section
109. On the last day when the defendants should have been produced at
court, they were not taken to the court where the trial had been taking
place. they were tried within the prison and each of the defendants were
sentenced to 7 years imprisonment. No defense lawyer was allowed to be
present when sentence was passed. Moreover, the fact that obstacles ere
created to prevent Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other defense witnesses who
would have been able to give evidence on the true situation (as prevailed
during the Independence Day ceremony); and that some who should have been
codefendants were used as (prosecution) witnesses makes it very clear that
the proceedings were wrongfully conducted under the law. 

Political prisoners
	Among the hundreds of long-term political prisoners, twenty-eight,
including U Win Tin, Secretary of the NLD are in the process of being
retired on the accusation that they had contravened jail regulations.
During the second week of November they were transferred to police dog
cells as a form of punishment and they have been deprived of their right
to receive visitors. Some have been allowed to receive food parcels but
they were not allowed to see their families.
	Although it is known that the trials are in process and attempts
have been made to provide legal assistance, it has not been permitted to
provide such assistance. On 26-2-96., the families of the prisoners wrote
to members of government, to the Chief justice and to the Attorney General
asking to be allowed to provide lawyers for the defense but there has been
no change in the situation. 

the Motor accident of U Saw Hlaing
	At 3a.m on the morning of 15-3-96, the Toyota van driven by U Saw
Hlaing ran into a trishaw pedaled by Ko San Win, carrying Maung Hla Soe
and Maung Thein Naing. The trishaw was slightly damaged and its passengers
received bruises and minor injuries.
	U Saw Hlaing was accompanied by Ko Saw Ne Win. In another car were
U Ba Soe Tint and Ko Soe Win. All four were coming back from Mandalay. The
had gone ahead to make necessary preparations for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's
proposed trip to Mandalay and they were on the way back (to Rangoon)
because the trip had been canceled due to the interference of the
authorities.
	U Saw Hlaing and the companions carried out fully the duties
required of them: taking the injured people to (the local) hospital for
medical treatment, reporting the accident at the police station and
informing the families (of the trishaw passengers) of what had happened. 
While the police were in process of preparing the case as one involving
simple injury the whole situation changed due to perceptible pressure
exerted from higher authorities. An attempt was even made to arrest both
passengers traveling in the car involved in the accident as well as the
two in the accompanying car, but due to the refusal of U Ba Soe Tint and
others to submit to such illegal proceedings, and to the police officers'
decision to act in accordance with the law, only U Saw Hlaing was placed
under arrest.
	On 18-3-96, U Saw Hlaing's family and lawyers tried to get bail
and to provide the defendant with legal assistance,. However they were not
permitted either to contact him or to accompany him ( to court). U Saw
Hlaing was not tried in Taungu jail. Against all legal precedent he was
taken to the Kyaungon police station, summarily tried and sentenced to 5
years imprisonment. He was charged under section 338 (grievous injury) and
the three witnesses (the passengers of the trishaw) were forbidden to
leave the hospital. One of the witnesses had disclosed a thumb, another
had cut his chin and received two stitches. When U Saw Hlaing's family
went to the Kyaungon police station because they had heard he was to be
tried there, those on duty (at the station) deceitfully denied that the
trial was going to take place. 
	I would like to present a case which provides a glaring contrast
with the above. It relates to a motor accident which took place on 6-3-94.
On that day a medical student named Maung Tut Kyaw Win driving down the
Prome Road in a Mazada 929 ran over a university student. Tut Kyaw Win was
the son of a senior officer of the armed forces and the victim was Maung
Ye Win, a final year student from the Institute of Economics. Maung Ye Win
died of his injuries in hospital. As the authorities are already aware,
Tut Kyaw Win was released from prison within a few weeks. it has also been
heard that during his sojourn in jail he was provided with full facilities
to enable him to take the annual medical college examinations. 

3. From studying the cases mentioned above it can be seen that the
authorities at various levels are perpetrating many lawless acts. the NLD
regards as its national duty to protest against such lawless proceedings. 
it is only if there is legality before the law can there be genuine
progress on the political, economic and social fronts. 

4. Therefore we urged the Chairman of the Slorc , which has assumed all
state responsibilities to bring to light all lawless conduct occurring
throughout the nation and to effect rectification as soon as possible. 


Signed
Aung Shwe
Chairman of the NLD.