Reuter:SLORC Rejects Autopsy Call f

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Subject: Reuter:SLORC Rejects Autopsy Call for Dead Businessman

SLORC Rejects Autopsy Call for Dead Businessman   

 JAKARTA, July 16 (Reuter) - Burma rejected calls on Tuesday for an
independent autopsy on an unofficial envoy for several European countries
who died in prison last month, saying allowing it would compromise national
sovereignty.
     The Burmese embassy in Jakarta said in a statement that James Leander
(Leo) Nichols died in June due to a stroke and heart attack.
     Nichols, a close friend of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, was
arrested in April and in May was sentenced to three years in jail for
operating home telephones and fax machines without permission.
     His death while in custody angered several European governments which
have since been calling for an independent autopsy, as well as sanctions
against Burma.
     The embassy statement said the demands for another autopsy were not
acceptable.
     "The 'demands' for an 'independent autopsy, etc" is not acceptable not
because the Myanmar (Burmese) government has anything to hide," the
statement said.
     "No truly independent Myanmar government, before or now, will
compromise the principles of national soveignty and non-interference in
internal affairs," it said.
     The statement also denied that Nichols had been tortured while in
prison, saying there are no "torture chambers" in Insein jail where Nichols
was held.
     Norway said recently it had evidence Nichols, a 65-year old diabetic
with a heart condition, was tortured before he died. Norwegian Deputy
Foreign Minister Jan Egeland said last week the military government
deprived Nichols of sleep and did not give him adequate medical treatment.
     The statement was the first government comment on Nichols death though
Rangoon's state-run media has printed derisory commentaries about him since
his death.
     A commentary in an official newspaper on Monday said Nichols was a
"bad-hat" and a "crook."
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