ABSDF: Calls on Students in Burma t

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Media Release
Date: August 27, 1998

ABSDF Calls on Students in Burma to Step up Fight for Democracy

On the 10th anniversary of the biggest student gathering in
Rangoon University on August 28, 1988, the All Burma Students'
Democratic Front (ABSDF) is calling on the students of Burma to
step up the fight for democracy. 

Ten years ago, more than 10,000 students gathered in Rangoon
University to revive the All Burma Federation of Students Union
(ABFSU), which had been an underground organization since the
violent suppression of the student movement in 1962 and the
demolition of the Student Union Building by the Burmese military.

To mark the anniversary, the ABSDF urges the students of Burma to
increase pressure on the Burmese military to reopen educational
institutions, recognize existing student organizations, release
all political prisoners and enter a dialogue with the National
League for Democracy (NLD) and representatives of ethnic
nationalities.

ABSDF Foreign Affairs Secretary Aung Naing Oo says the gathering
at Rangoon University on August 28, 1988, was an historic day for
the student movement. 

"For the first time in our lives we were able to exercise our
rights without any fear and with great hopes for our future and
the future of our country. 

"Many of the speakers at the gathering in 1988 have since either
died in prison or are currently languishing in jails throughout
the country. But they have not vowed to the brutality of the
military regime. Memories of their unwavering spirit and
commitment live on with us." 

The Chairman of the ABFSU and one of the speakers at the 1988
gathering, Min Ko Naing, has spent more than nine years in
solitary confinement in Insein Prison in Rangoon. He was
sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in 1989 for leading student
demonstrations against the military. 

All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF)

For more information please contact 01-253 9082, 0-654 4984.