[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

AFP : Foreign activists to face tri



Foreign activists to face trial for inciting unrest in Myanmar: junta

Mon 10 Aug 98 - 13:20 GMT 

YANGON, Aug 10 (AFP) - A group of 18 foreign activists is to stand trial in
Myanmar for allegedly seeking to incite unrest, its junta said Monday.

"After further investigation...it was premeditated," the junta said in a
statement.

"Action will be taken against them according to the law. They will be
charged and tried."

The detainees were six US nationals, three Thais, three Malaysians, three
Indonesians, two Filipinos and one Australian, the junta said. Ten were
male and eight female.

Diplomats expressed shock at the announcement, though some thought it a
token display to deter other foreigners from attempting similar protests.

"I still think they'll be out of here very soon," one said.

The diplomats complained that Myanmar official had not informed them of the
detentions, the fact that the group would face chages or even where they
were being held.

"We still haven't even been told by the government," said one angry
diplomat trying to identify a number of nationals detained in the Sunday
roundup.

"All we know is what journalists have told us. We don't know who they are
or where they are."

Diplomats expect the junta to deport the foreign activists, who were
detained while distributing pamphlets promoting human rights and democracy
and were accused of attempting to incite unrest.

Sources said they had been detained by Myanmar's intelligence service but
were being held at one or more police stations. They were believed to be
well cared for.

"I'm sure they'll look after the foreigners," one diplomat said.

Although concerned, some diplomats also said the activists had sought
trouble.

"It was a pretty stupid thing to do," added one whose embassy had no
nationals involved. "I have to wonder if they wanted to get caught. They
are certainly getting everyone's attention."

A consular official trying to find the detainees added: "I think we will
resolve it today and that they will be deported. I don't see them being
charged but I also don't think they should try it again or there will be
more serious consequences."

A junta statement Sunday said the 18 had been turned in by citizens and
taken to a police station for questioning.

"We don't have consular access but we are working on it," said another
diplomat whose nationals are among those detained.

"We are not even sure where they are being held. But we think they will
just deport them. They should be on a flight to Bangkok today or tomorrow.
The offence wasn't that serious.

"We are in talks with them (the junta) now and hope it will be resolved
very soon."

The Thai foreign ministry has identified its nationals as Jaran Ditapichai,
52, a lecturer at Bangkok's Rangsit University, Sawas Upahat, 37, of the
non-government organisation Forum of the Poor, and Chanakan Phandemwong,
22, a student at Thammasat University in Bangkok.

The Australian was identified as Alison Vicary, 35, and was believed to be
an academic in Sydney. Details of the others were not immediately
available.

The detainees were picked up at "seven or eight" separate points, a junta
spokesman told AFP by telephone late Sunday. "Some of them were throwing
them (pamphlets) out the window of a taxi on the highway," he added.

"They threw them out of window where there were lots of crowds. Some were
in the street, on foot, handing them out." Pamphlets had also been found in
their hotel rooms.

The group arrived in Yangon from Bangkok Friday and was due to depart
Sunday and attend a press conference in the Thai capital on Monday.

A Thai foreign ministry spokesman said the three Thais had been arrested at
Yangon's airport along with three of the others as they prepared to fly
back to Bangkok.

Official sources said 12 detainees had been placed at a guest house at
police headquarters while the six detained at the airport were being held
at a nearby police station.

In Bangkok, exiled Myanmar students maintained an anti-junta protest
outside Myanmar's embassy for a sixth consecutive day Monday, saying they
would remain until Myanmar's parliament is convened.

The leading opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party of Nobel
peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has given the government an ultimatum to
convene parliament by August 21 or face unspecified consequences.

The NLD won 1990 polls by a landslide but the junta refuses to give up
power.