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BP: Envoy applies to visit detaine



                                            August 14, 1998 


                                  

 Envoy applies to
 visit detainees again

 Bhanravee Tansubhapol

 Thai Ambassador to Burma Pensak Chalarak has applied for
 permission to pay a second visit to three Thai activists held in Rangoon
 today to deliver medicines and other necessities, Foreign Ministry
 Spokesman Kobsak Chutikul said yesterday.

 The ambassador first visited the three Thais on Tuesday, when they
 were held at the Yangon Divisional Police Headquarters. The three
 Thais, six Americans and three Malaysians have now been moved to a
 police "guest house" to join three Indonesians, two Filipinos and one
 Australian also arrested on Sunday while distributing leaflets.

 The medicine for Chanakan Phundeamvong, a 22-year-old Thammsat
 University student with thyroid problems, was to be carried to
 Rangoon last evening by Belgium's Bangkok-based ambassador
 Christina Funes-Noppen. Ms Funes-Noppen, who is also accredited
 to Rangoon, was to join other European ambassadors in the Burmese
 capital in a meeting on the arrests of the activists.

 Burmese authorities yesterday gave the greenlight for relatives to visit
 the 18 but emphasised the need for relatives to state their relationship
 to the activists when applying for visas, Mr Kobsak said.

 Ms Chanakan's mother applied for a visa at the Burmese embassy
 yesterday but her passport was found to have expired so the foreign
 ministry was rushing the issuance of a new one so that she could
 reapply for a visa again today.

 Relatives of the 18 were due to give a press conference in Bangkok
 today.

 A group calling itself the Thammasat University "community" yesterday
 urged the Thai government and other Asean member states to press
 for the unconditional release of the 18 activists.

 The group also urged the Thai government to join the international
 community in calling on the Burmese government to solve the problem
 in Burma at the root cause by returning power to the people.

 Magsaysay award winner Thongbai Thongpao yesterday led activists
 and relatives of three Thai nationals to seek permission from Burma to
 visit 18 foreigners detained in Rangoon.

 The 10-member delegation applied for visa at the Burmese embassy
 yesterday and the result would be known today, the Asian Forum for
 Human Rights and Development (Forum-Asia) said.



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 Last Modified: Fri, Aug 14, 1998
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