Happy landing for 18 activists

[hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

The Nation
August 16,1998

Happy landing for 18 activists 

INSISTING their motives were pure and bursting with emotional relief,
eighteen foreign activists, including three Thais, arrived at Bangkok
International Airport on Saturday following their deportation from Rangoon
after being sentenced to five-year prison terms by a Burmese court for
distributing leaflets in support of the democracy movement. 

''We admitted [to the court] what we did but pleaded not guilty,'' Charan
Dithapichai, a Thai activist and lecturer in political science at Rangsit
University, told the press conference on Saturday morning after arriving in
Bangkok along with the other activists. 

''We were not guilty. We only joined the Burmese people in celebrating the
10th anniversary of an uprising for democracy, and we spread our goodwill
message which caused no harm,'' he said. 
Most of the activists said that the Burmese government had eventually
released them due to international pressure by their respective governments
and democratic movements. 

In welcoming the release of the activists, White House spokesman Mike
McCurry said this ought to serve as a reminder that there was an absence of
protection of basic human rights in Burma. 

The 18 -- six Americans, three Thais, three Malaysians, three Indonesians,
two Filipinos and an Australian -- were greeted with garlands of yellow
jasmine and pink roses on their arrival in Bangkok, where they were
welcomed by about 200 cheering fellow activists, supporters, relatives and
reporters. 

''Of course I'm very happy,'' screamed Ellene Sana, 36, a social activist
from the Philippines. ''I didn't want to stay there any longer.'' 

A banner hung in the airport's VIP lounge reading: ''Welcome Home,
Democracy Heroes.'' 

But in a faxed statement to a foreign news agency on Saturday, a spokesman
for the Burmese junta said that the government felt that ''these misguided
youths were exploited'' by anti-government groups ''to perform subversive
activities and become sacrificial lambs for them''. 

The Thai government sent a low-key representative to the airport on
Saturday. Ong-art Klampaiboon, secretary to Foreign Minister Surin
Pitsuwan, was sent in an attempt to avoid being seen as supporting the
democracy activists' actions. 

The activists appeared tired on their arrival but more firmly weddedthan
ever to the cause of democracy in Burma. 

''If we have at least advanced the fight for human rights and democracy and
made people's lives better in Burma, it has been worth it,'' said Malaysian
activist Chong Kok Wei. He added that he was glad he had been to Burma. 

The activists were picked up by police in Rangoon last Sunday after
distributing thousands of pro-democracy leaflets which coincided with the
10th anniversary of a nationwide uprising against military rule. 

They were convicted in a one-day trial on Friday of violating the Emergency
Provisions Act, dating from 1950, and were sentenced to five years' hard
labour. 

However, in a dramatic turnaround the court then suspended the sentences on
condition they were deported. 

Charan admitted that he and colleagues had been aware that they might have
broken a law. ''We did not expect the outcome of our action to be this
serious,'' the veteran Thai activist conceded. 

However, the activists said that they had been treated well during their
six-days in prison but told little of their fate. 

''We were given everything we possibly wanted. We were given rooms with
fans and air conditioning. We were given all the food we needed,'' Sapna
Chattpar, 21, one of four students from the American University in
Washington said. 



Australian activist Alison Vicary told a news conference that before the
group's arrest they had asked people in Rangoon whether they supported the
military regime. 
''They said: 'No, we don't, but we are scared,' '' she said. 

''Before I went to Burma I was quite familiar with the situation in that I
had read a lot about it, but nothing prepared me for the level of fear that
permeates Burmese society,'' she added. 

At the Bai Sri welcoming ceremony organised at Thammasart University by
Bangkok-based Forum Asia, Thai student activist Chanakarn Pandermwongse,
who was among the 18, said she had little hope for forseeable changes in
Burma since the military junta were holding firmly on to power. 

But Vicary said the release served as a good sign that international
pressure will work towards bringing changes in the country. 

None of the activists, 10 men and eight women, said they had plans to
return to Burma, but the organisation that sent them there, the Alternative
Asean Network on Burma, promised another venture in the near future. 

''When we are free to do so, we are going to go back and distribute this
goodwill message again, very soon, I hope,'' said coordinator Debbie
Stothard. 



The Nation, Agencies