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Reuters-Myanmar military animal wit



Reply-To: "TIN KYI" <tinkyi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Reuters-Myanmar military animal witnesses give evidence against heroic Briton 

Myanmar witnesses give evidence against Briton
04:41 a.m. Sep 16, 1999 Eastern
By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - A parade of prosecution witnesses gave evidence
on Thursday against a 28-year-old British woman arrested for a pro-democracy
protest in Myanmar last week.

Londoner Rachel Goldwyn, held under an emergency law that carries a jail
term of up to seven years, appeared in court for a second day after her
September 7 arrest.

She was detained after she had tied herself to a lamp post in central Yangon
and shouted pro-democracy slogans.

Goldwyn has yet to be formally charged and on Thursday her lawyer questioned
the section of the law under which she was being held -- one covering
journalism.

The court heard a dozen prosecution witnesses and viewed 25 exhibits,
including posters and a camera.

If charged and convicted under the Emergency Provisions Act, which has been
used by the military government to suppress dissent, Goldwyn could face a
long jail term.

However, political analysts speculate that even if she is convicted that
sentence could then be suspended and she could be deported since it was her
first offence.

Goldwyn was the second Briton arrested in Myanmar for pro-democracy activism
in just over a week. She has been held at the notorious Insein Jail where
many political prisoners have been detained in the past.

On September 1, James Mawdsley, 26, from Lancashire, who also holds an
Australian passport, was jailed for 17 years after entering the country
illegally carrying pro-democracy leaflets.

On Wednesday, British and Australian officials saw Mawdsley in jail in the
northeastern town of Kengtung for the first time since his arrest. A British
official said he appeared well.

The British embassy has said Goldwyn was being treated well and was in good
spirits.

On Monday, the government's daily information sheet published a letter from
a Myanmar historian describing both Britons as ``criminal mercenaries'' and
saying Goldwyn must face the consequences of her actions.

The arrests came amid a crackdown to thwart an uprising dissident exiles
called for last week that did not materialise.

Diplomats estimate authorities arrested more than 100 local activists in
Yangon and others in the provinces in the past month to prevent the
uprising. Dissidents put the number of arrests at about 500 while the
government has reported fewer than 40.

Myanmar's military does not tolerate dissent and has been widely criticised
for rights abuses since taking direct power in 1988 by killing thousands to
crush a pro-democracy uprising. It then ignored the last general election in
1990 when the opposition National League for Democracy won by a landslide.