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Subject: Reuters-Myanmar opposition member commits suicide in jail 

Myanmar opposition member commits suicide in jail
07:27 a.m. Jun 02, 1999 Eastern
BANGKOK, June 2 (Reuters) - A member of Myanmar's main opposition National
League for Democracy has committed suicide in prison, a Myanmar government
statement said on Wednesday.

Hla Khin, 43, hanged himself with his sarong in his cell at Yangon's Insein
Prison on Monday, the statement said.

He had been jailed for violation of a 1975 law that dealt with subversion,
it said without giving details of his crime or jail term.

Hla Khin had been undergoing treatment for alcoholism which the statement
said had brought on neurological disorders.

``Usually, patients succumb to disorderly and dysfunctional patterns of
behaviour and one of the most fatal outcomes is suicide,'' the statement
said.

``The government regrets this sad and unexpected event and has expressed its
sincere condolences to the family.''

The NLD says more than 100 elected as NLD members of parliament in the
abortive 1990 election are still being detained by the government.

In addition, about 500 ordinary NLD members were also under detention, a
senior party official said last week.

The ruling military and the NLD have been at loggerheads since the military
refused to recognise the results of the 1990 elections which the NLD swept.

The military late last year stepped up suppression of the NLD after
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi demanded that a People's Parliament of
the elected MPs be convened.