MORE BURMA MPS DETAINED FOR DEFYING

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Media Release
Date: July 9, 1998


          MORE BURMA MPS DETAINED FOR DEFYING SPDC RESTRICTIONS
 
According to sources in Rangoon, 11 more Members of Parliament
(MPs) have been detained by Burma's State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC) for defying travel restrictions and a requirement
to report twice daily to the authorities.

The arrests are part of a crackdown on MPs from the National
League for Democracy (NLD) following the NLD's demand on June 23
to convene Parliament within 60 days. In reaction to the demand,
the SPDC announced that all NLD MPs must report to their local
authorities twice daily and that they must seek permission to
travel outside their townships. 

The NLD subsequently issued a letter on June 30 to its MPs urging
them not to comply with the restrictions. Since the NLD's demand
to convene Parliament, the authorities have detained more than 50
NLD MPs.

The names of the 11 MPs detained recently are: U Hla Htun
(Rangoon Division); U Sein Myint Maung, U Than Htay (Shan State);
Daw Hla Hla Moe (Pegu Division); U Thein Maung, U Paw Khin, U Saw
Shwe (Mandalay Division); U Kan Oo, U Myint Thein, U Hlaing Aye
(Magwe Division); and U Maung Kywin Aung (Arakan State).

Some of these MPs were delegates to the National Convention, and
boycotted the Convention in December 1995, while others are close
to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The two MPs from Shan State refused to
report twice daily to the authorities and have been sent to a
prison labour camp.  

On June 30, the NLD also sent a letter to SPDC Senior General
Than Shwe protesting the use of the 1961 Restriction and Bond Act
to restrict the movement of NLD MPs. This Act is a criminal law
intended to restrict the movements of habitual criminals. 

The NLD protests in the letter that the restrictions imposed on
them are unjust and not in accordance with existing laws and
orders. The letter also states that the MPs who are charged under
the Restriction and Bond Act are given no legal presentation, and
it demands the authorities immediately stop committing such
unlawful acts. 

All Burma Students' Democratic Front

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