NCUB PRESS RELEASE ON RECENT NATION

[maungma@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: NCUB PRESS RELEASE ON RECENT NATIONAL LEAGUE FOR DEMOCRACY  (NLD) RESIGNATIONS IN BE LIN TOWNSHIP 

December 1, 1998
			NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE UNION OF BURMA (NCUB)

RECENT NATIONAL LEAGUE FOR DEMOCRACY (NLD) RESIGNATIONS IN BE LIN TOWNSHIP 
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(We have received the following information from inside sources:)


"On 25 November, 1998, a programme on Myanmar TV called "Happiness and
Image of the People" aired an interview with the NLD organisers of Be Lin
Township.  In the programme, the journalist asked them why they were
resigning from the NLD and whether they were being forced to do so. He also
asked whether they had been invited for talks in the government guest
house, and how the government treated them. But the way the journalist
asked his questions was highly leading, and the NLD members all answered
that they had resigned on their own will. They said that the government did
not arrest them, but that they had only been asked to come for a temporary
invitation. Food had been very good, and the treatment had been the best.
The NLD members also confirmed that there had been no guards watching over
them. All of them gave the same answers, and they spoke in unison. But the
public could see their true feelings on their faces. They were not
enthusiastic and did not seem happy about what they were talking about. It
was also clear that they were afraid. U Thein Kyi, the chairman of the
township organising committee spoke with his head bowed during the entire
interview. The programme was pure propaganda for the Burma junta, State
Peace and Development Council (SPDC). 

People understand that all the members of the NLD have resigned by force.
After the programme, one member of the NLD organising committee in Be Lin
Township, who did not want to be named,  said that everything in the
programme had been a lie. 

According to this person, all the people who had been interviewed, the
chairman, U Thein Kyi, the vice-chairman, U Kyin Maung, the secretary, U
Shwe Htun, the cashier, U Tin Soe, Daw Hla Hla Myint from Women's Affairs,
and joint- secretaries U Hla Win and U Shwe Win as well as U Kan Htoo and
Aung Myo Win were arrested by Aung Ngwe Kyaing, an officer from Military
Intelligence(MI) No. 5 in Be Lin. He led the police force and  members of
the local PDC from different quarters. They were arrested on 6 September at
10:30 p.m. They were sent in two groups to the LIB # 3 and IB # 8 via the
police station. They were charged with breaching the 1950 Emergency
Provisions Act, art. 5 (j), and were sent to jail on 25 September. 

On 19 July 1997, Ko Aung Myo Win and U Shwe Win organised the official
ceremony for Martyrs Day. They also put up the NLD signboard that had
previously been removed by the SPDC. They were arrested by the SPDC because
of these acts. At the time, the SPDC forced Ko Aung Myo Win and U Shwe Win
to resign from the NLD. They agreed and signed, but they were not released.
They were sent to jail for 6 months. When they were arrested again by the
MI on September 6, Ko Aung Myo Win and U Shwe Win complained to the MI that
they had already signed their resignation letter and that they were
therefore not related to the NLD. However, the MI (5) replied that the
signature of the resignation letter at the police station had not been legal. 

All the NLD organisers, 9 people, were released on 28 October because they
agreed to sign that they would resign from the NLD. They were forced by the
MI to do so. On 9 November, MI brought these released 9 NLD members and 5
other NLD organisers to the township PDC office, and presented for them a
ready made statement that they were resigning from the NLD. They were
forced to sign it. They read the statement aloud and the MI recorded it.
The MI also took photos and video of the event. The same night, MI 5 and
other officers served dinner to the NLD members. Photos were then taken of
them while they were eating. 

On 12 November, they recorded the interview for the programme on Myanmar TV
at Aung Zeya Hall, No.8 Quarter in Be Lin. Before the interview, the MI
prepared the answers for the NLD organisers and taught them how to speak.
Myanmar TV recorded the interview with U Thein Kyi, U Kyin Maung, U Shwe
Htun, Ko Thein Soe, Ko Aung Myo Win, U Pyu, U Pho Kyi, U Hla Htun, U Thaung
Nyunt. Myawaddy TV interviewed Ko Hla Win, Ko Shwe Win, Ko Kan Htu, U Mya
Maung and Daw Hla Hla Myint.

According to the NLD member who did not want to be named,  the NLD cannot
be destroyed by 14 people signing that they are resigning. He also added
that they were forced to sign, and that he cannot accept the resignations
because it is against the wishes of the people, who have elected them. He
also stated that such acts as confiscating rubber stamps and removing
signboards cannot eliminate the NLD. Finally, he declared that "we will
work for the NLD even without rubber stamps or signboards, and we will
still assume that we are party members and follow the party's policies and
stand". 

According to the latest information, these 14 people are now under
surveillance by the MI, and they are not allowed to travel."