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NEWS - 18 activists to be deported
18 activists to be deported from Myanmar
Their crime: Handing out
pro-democracy leaflets
August 14, 1998
Web posted at: 9:47 a.m. EDT (1347 GMT)
YANGON, Myanmar (CNN) -- Eighteen
international activists arrested last week for
handing out pro-democracy leaflets in
Myanmar were sentenced to five years
hard labor Friday after pleading guilty to
violating sedition laws but will be deported
by Saturday morning.
Moments after a judge sentenced the
activists to prison, an official from the
Ministry of Home Affairs read an order reducing the
sentences and
saying the activists would be deported on condition they do
not violate
Myanmar laws again.
The six Americans, three Malaysians, three Indonesians,
three Thais,
two Filipinos and one Australian had been questioned for six
days
after being charged with violating the 1950 Emergency
Provision Act.
The sweeping law allows authorities
to hand out maximum 20-year prison
sentences for attempting to incite
unrest or disrupt the peace and
stability of the state.
A U.S. diplomat who visited the
American activists Thursday said
embassies were not informed of the
trial until Friday morning.
Before the verdict was read, the defendants and
international
diplomats who attended the trial appeared relaxed and jovial
as the
judge read out the charges and asked for pleas from the
accused after
listening to testimony for most of the day from nine
prosecution
witnesses.
Various diplomats had asked
during the day to consult with the
defendants, but were denied
permission. A single judge, Khang
Gyi, presided. There was no jury.
The trial was open to diplomats and
journalists.
The activists were detained
Sunday, the day after the 10th
anniversary of a failed nationwide
democracy uprising, for handing out small cards to Myanmar
citizens
telling them the outside world supported their struggle and
to not give
up.
Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962.
The detention of the activists has sparked an international
campaign
and led the United States to urge their release. It has also
focused
world attention on the campaign by opposition leader Aung
San Suu
Kyi for democracy and human rights in the country.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this
report.