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BURMESE JUNTA DETAINS ELECTED MEMBE



  Press Release
  Date: November 17, 1997
  
  
                                    
           BURMESE JUNTA DETAINS ELECTED MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT
           ==================================================
  
  
  Dr. Min Soe Lin, an elected member of parliament and general
  secretary of the banned Mon National League for Democracy
  (MNLD), has been arrested by Burma's military regime for
  criticizing the junta.
  
  He was detained on November 6 by the then State Law and
  Order Restoration Council (SLORC) under Article 5 (j) of the
  Emergency Provision Act. The ABSDF has learnt that Dr. Min
  Soe Lin, 40, was arrested for his role in organising
  celebrations for this year's 50th Mon National Day on
  February 23, which the SLORC had refused to allow go ahead.
  
  Dr. Min Soe Lin was arrested in Mudon, Mon State, but it is
  not known where he has been taken or under what conditions
  he is being held.
  
  Dr. Min Soe Lin was elected by various Mon organizations as
  general secretary of the Mon State Commission for the Golden
  Jubilee Celebration of Mon National Day. In this role, he
  repeatedly sought permission to hold the celebration in
  Moulmein, the capital of Mon State. However, the Military
  Intelligence Service (5) based in Moulmein, refused to give
  its consent for the celebration, although permission had
  been granted in previous years. 
  
  Finally, after cancelling the arrangements in Moulmein, the
  celebration was held near Kanni at the source of the Ye
  River in an area under the control of the New Mon State
  Party (NMSP). However, the military considered this an act
  of defiance and it was widely known that Dr. Min Soe Lin was
  subsequently placed on the military's most wanted list.
  
  Dr. Min Soe Lin graduated from the Rangoon Institute of
  Medicine (2) in 1985. While he was studying at the institute
  he was an executive member of the Rangoon Universities' Mon
  Culture and Literature Association, and secretary of the
  association's Buddhist section. 
  
  He joined the Mon National League for Democracy when it was
  formed after the 1988 uprising. He was one of five
  successful MNLD candidates in the 1990 election, winning the
  seat of Ye (1) in Mon State. The SLORC banned the MNLD on 19
  March, 1992, under order No. 8/92.
  
  Central Committee
  All Burma Students' Democratic Front
  
  
  For more information please call 01-923 1687 or 01-654 4984.