Nobel laureate Suu Kyi threatened w

[c04061998@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Nobel laureate Suu Kyi threatened with trial

Nobel laureate Suu Kyi
                  threatened with trial

                  January 8, 1999
                  Web posted at: 3:11 a.m. EST (0811 GMT) 

                  YANGON, Myanmar (CNN) --
                  Myanmar's government-run media
                  accused opposition leader Aung San
                  Suu Kyi of treason on Friday and
                  threatened her with a trial if she didn't
                  change her ways. 

                  The New Light of Myanmar
                  newspaper said the leader of the National League for 
Democracy (NLD)
                  party had broken the law by divulging state secrets to 
other nations, and
                  kept in contact with outlawed expatriate and rebel 
groups. 

                  "She not only divulges secrets of the State to foreign 
nations but also called
                  for destruction of the State openly," an article in 
the paper said. 

                  "She is breaking the existing laws, keeping in contact 
with outlawed
                  expatriate group(s) that rebelled with arms and Karen 
National Union group,
                  declared as (an) unlawful association," it added. 

                  "Daw Suu Kyi is warned that action can be taken 
against her anytime with
                  sufficient evidence according to law," it said. 

                  The hard-line newspaper is a government mouthpiece 
with an editorial policy
                  reflecting government opinion and plans. The 
government often uses its
                  columns to float ideas as a means of gauging 
international opinion. 

                  The article predicted the NLD, which is at political 
odds with the ruling
                  military State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), 
would break up if
                  Suu Kyi was no longer in the party. 

                  It said that Suu Kyi, daughter of Myanmar's 
independence hero Aung San,
                  had been tolerated by the government for so long 
because of her late father. 

                  But she was taking advantage of that, causing some 
Myanmar people to
                  demand Suu Kyi's deportation, it added. 

                  Thorn in the side of regime

                  Suu Kyi was not available for comment. She is 
prohibited from having
                  regular contacts with media from abroad. 

                  Released from six years of house arrest in July 1995, 
she has been the
                  military rulers' nemesis. During her time under 
arrest, Suu Kyi was awarded
                  the Nobel Peace Prize. 

                  The ruling military regime has long wanted to deport 
Suu Kyi to England
                  where her British husband lives but knows it would 
affect relations with most
                  nations. 

                  She led the NLD to a landslide victory in the 1990 
general election, but the
                  military refused to recognize the results of that 
poll. Since then, the NLD and
                  the government have consistently waged a political 
war. 

                  The military has detained and later released thousands 
of NLD activists and
                  curbed the party's activities as Suu Kyi and the NLD 
grab world attention
                  with calls for greater democracy and freedom for 
Myanmar people. 

                  The NLD has set up a committee to press for the 
convening of a Peoples
                  Parliament comprising elected representatives from the 
1990 elections. But
                  the SPDC has rejected the NLD's call for a parliament. 

                  Local media also reported that 7,168 NLD members had 
resigned from the
                  party since October 1998 after anti-NLD rallies 
organized by
                  pro-government organizations were staged in 19 towns 
across the nation. 

                  But the NLD has said that such statements are 
government propaganda and
                  some of its members were being forced by the military 
to leave the party. 

                                 Reuters contributed to this report.

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