Activists back in U.S. from Myanmar

[hlaing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

August 17, 1998
Web posted at: 8:57 a.m. EDT (1257 GMT)
 
Activists back in U.S. from Myanmar

NEWARK, New Jersey (AP) -- Now back in the United States, Michele Keegan
said she was never scared during the week she was held under arrest in
Myanmar for handing out pro-democracy leaflets. 

"I was never afraid because fear was not an option," the 19-year-old
Hamilton Township resident said early Monday after she arrived at Newark
International Airport to the hugs of waiting family and friends. 

"That's what the government uses to oppress its people," she said. 
"That's the hold they have on them, fear. They don't know how to react when
you don't have fear." 

Keegan also knew she and 17 fellow activists, including five other
Americans, would probably be deported rather than serve prison time for
violating the law of the military dictatorship. 

"That's what we most likely thought would happen," she said. "We thought
we'd be deported much sooner than we were." 

Prison conditions 'fine' 

Keegan was greeted by about 25 family members and friends who erupted in
cheers when she arrived at the airport with fellow activist Anjanette
Hamilton, 20, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. 

Keegan's mother, Callie Keegan, shouted, "We got her! We got her!" as she
walked with her daughter to the waiting room where other family and friends
were waiting. Many wore yellow ribbons or yellow shirts to symbolize their
support. 

The young women arrived in Bangkok, Thailand, from neighboring Myanmar on
Saturday. All 18 activists had been tried and sentenced Friday to five
years of hard labor, then deported the next day from Myanmar. 

Keegan was arrested while handing out the leaflets in a market and Hamilton
was taken into custody after throwing the papers from a cab window. 

The leaflets, printed in English and Burmese, urged the Burmese to continue
their fight for human rights and democracy. 

The conditions of their imprisonment were "fine," probably because the
military government was afraid of international repercussions if they were
mistreated, Keegan said. 

"The conditions there for the Burmese are absolutely appalling," Hamilton
added. 

Pledge to continue fight 

Two other American University students, members of the Free Burma
Coalition, also arrived in the United States. Sapna Chhatpar and Nisha
Anand were to fly from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., where American
University is located. 

Despite a warning that the activists would have to serve their sentences
and additional penalties if they returned to Myanmar and again broke the
law, the four pledged to continue fighting for human rights there.