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Burmese Dissidents Face Trial in Th



BANGKOK, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Twenty Burmese dissidents are due to face trial
in Thailand for illegal entry, police in the western province of Kanchanaburi
said on Thursday. 

The Burmese, who say they are members of various opposition groups in their
homeland, were arrested on Monday and were detained at Sangkraburi police
station, police said. 

``The court is set to rule on them tomorrow. They may be fined or face one
month jail before deportation,'' police in Sangkraburi on the border with
Burma told Reuters by telephone. 

Illegal entry carries a 3,000-baht ($76) fine or a one-month jail term. 

In Bangkok a Burmese dissident student group, the All Burmese Students
Democracy Front (ABSDF), issued a statement denouncing the arrest of its
members, demanding their release, and urging the government to stop
suppressing Burmese opposition members living in Thailand. 

``We denounce the arresting (of) Burmese dissidents, including members of
NLDLA (National League for Democracy Liberated Area), ABSDF, and KNU (Karen
Nation Union) on November 23,'' the group said in a statement obtained by
Reuters. 

It also asked the government to ``remove the suppressing policies toward
Burmese opposition in Thailand.'' 

Thai police said they had only arrested people for entering the country
illegally. 

Thousands of Burmese students fled from military suppression after the
Rangoon government crushed uprisings in September 1988, several hundred
joining the ABSDF or the KNU rebels in the jungles on the Thai-Burma border.
^REUTERS@