Arrest Suu Kyi, says Burmese paper

[aungsan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Arrest Suu Kyi, says Burmese paper
The Times of India (19/8/96)
 
Rangoon, August 18.
A column in Sunday's state-run news paper called on 
authorities to arrest Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu 
Kyi, leader of the country's pro-democracy movement.
 
The column appealed to the military government "to remove 
from among the public, Aung San Suu Kyi and her colleagues 
in the interest of law and order."
 
Authored by Shaynay Kyaw, which means "well-known 
lawyer," and is believed to be the pen name of a senior 
military officer, the column said, "Legal punishment against 
the offenders by imprisonment and deportation is for the 
peace and tranquillity of the general public."
 
The writer accused Suu Kyi of being at the "forefront of 
violating the laws or instigating others to do so," since 1988. 
He said authorities had been to lenient with 51-year-old Suu 
Kyi because she was the daughter of Burma's independence 
hero-Gen. Aung San.
 
Suu Kyi won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her non-violent 
campaign to bring democracy to Burma, which has been ruled 
by the military since 1962.
 
She spent six years under house arrest from 1989 until 1995 
fro her role in the democracy movement. Hundred of other 
democracy activists have spent several years in prison, or are 
still incarcerated, fro their political activities.
 
Since her release, Suu Kyi has refrained from calling for street 
demonstrations and has taken a legalistic approach toward her 
battle for democracy, striving to operate within Burma's 
restrictive laws while challenging its military rulers.
 
But the several thousand people who gather in front of her 
Rangoon home each weekend to attend democracy forum are 
technically breaking the law. Gathering of the more than five 
people are illegal in Burma.
 
The government imposed an additional decree during June 
that allows them to meet out 20 year prison terms and 
confiscate all property belonging to those who attend such 
meetings. So far, they have taken no action.
 
Most Western analysts believe that arresting Suu Kyi would 
be a serious mistake by the military government. The United 
State Senate recently passed a bill that would allow President 
Bill Clinton to enact harsh economic sanctions against Burma 
if the military crack down on Suu Kyi.
 
Rumours circulated in June that the military would arrest Suu 
Kyi, prompting Japan and several Western nations to warn the 
rulers that tough action would follow if they carried out their 
threat. (AP)