Reuters-Malaysian groups denounce g

[hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Malaysian groups denounce government over Myanmar 
08:11 a.m. Aug 14, 1998 Eastern 

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Malaysia's opposition leader and two human
rights groups on Friday denounced the government for failing to support
three Malaysian activists detained in Myanmar for distributing leaflets. 

The three Malaysians were among 18 foreign pro-democracy activists who were
picked up on August 9 after handing out palm-sized leaflets calling on the
people of Myanmar to remember the brutal supression of a pro-democracy
demonstration on August 8, 1988. 

Foreign Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was quoted as saying on Thursday
that Malaysians who entered other countries to create trouble or break the
law did not deserve much sympathy. 

``I find it difficult to sympathise with Malaysians who go to other
countries and consciously create trouble or break the laws there,''
Abdullah was quoted as saying. 

Myanmar legal authorities began a hearing in Yangon on Friday in the case
of the activists, a spokeswoman for the U.S. embassy in Yangon said. 

The 18 were charged under a section of Myanmar's 1950 Emergency Act, but
the exact nature of the alleged offences was unclear, she told Reuters by
telephone from Yangon. 

Malaysian rights group Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) said it was shocked
and disappointed by the foreign minister's statement. 

``SUARAM firmly refutes Abdullah Badawi's unsubstantiated claims that the
Malaysian trio had gone to Burma (Myanmar) to create trouble,'' the group
said in a statement. 

``Distribution of leaflets like this will not be seen as an offence in any
other countries in the world,'' the Burma Solidarity Group Malaysia said,
calling the arrests a reflection of ``authoritarianism and
high-handedness.'' 

Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang of the Democratic Action Party took issue
with Abdullah. 

``It would be most unfortunate if Badawi's statement is accepted as a
signal by the Burmese military junta as a licence to impose whatever harsh
laws and cruel punishments against the three Malaysians as well as the
other 15 pro-democracy foreign activists,'' he said. 

Lim and the two rights groups called on the Malaysian government to follow
the lead set by Thailand and the Philippines, and step up pressure on
Myanmar to release the activists. 

``We are of the opinion that the stance taken by the Malaysian government
will not encourage the Burmese government to rectify their authoritarian
political system,'' the Burma Solidarity Group Malaysia said. 

Lim said Malaysia had taken a clear-cut stand for human rights in South
Africa and Bosnia and also backed the Palestinians' cause, and should now
press Myanmar to start a political dialogue with opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi. 

Myanmar opposition supporters say thousands of Myanmar citizens were killed
by troops in the bloody crackdown that followed the uprising on August 8,
1988. The government says the death toll was a few dozen.