[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index
][Thread Index
]
Myanmar grants Britain access to de
- Subject: Myanmar grants Britain access to de
- From: freedom@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 11 Sep 1999 06:44:00
Subject: Myanmar grants Britain access to detained activist
<html>
<font size=5><b>Myanmar grants Britain access to detained activist<br>
</font></b><font size=4>LONDON, Sept 10 (AFP) - Myanmar's military
government has finally allowed British diplomats to have access to one of
two detained British human rights activists, the Foreign Office here said
Friday. <br>
A spokesman said authority had been granted to visit James Mawdsley, who
was jailed for 17 years last week. <br>
A second request, to visit Rachel Goldwyn, who was arrested after singing
revolutionary songs in a Yangon market Tuesday, is still being processed.
<br>
The spokesman said officials hoped to visit Mawdsley on either Tuesday or
Wednesday next week. <br>
Permission was granted after Myanmar's ambassador to Britain, Kyaw Win,
was summoned to a meeting here Thursday with British junior foreign
minister Baroness Scotland to be told the situation was
"unsatisfactory." <br>
The access visit to Mawdsley, 26, will be the first official contact with
him since he was jailed earlier this month for entering Myanmar illegally
and carrying anti-government literature. <br>
It is still not known whether Mawdsley, who holds British and Australian
citizenship, received legal representation during his one-day trial, and
no details were available on his or Goldwyn's condition. <br>
Mawdsley was jailed after he was arrested in Myanmar for the third time
in two years. <br>
His father, in England, says he is worried that authorities are reluctant
to grant consular access because his son is being tortured. <br>
It is unclear what charges Goldwyn, 28, is facing. <br>
British officials attempted to visit her in a police station following
her arrest but were turned away. <br>
</font><font size=3>"We will keep trying until we get
(access)," the Foreign Office spokesman said.<br>
<br>
</font>
<BR>
</html>