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Reuters British woman in Myanmar ge



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Subject: Reuters British woman in Myanmar gets 7 years jail 

FOCUS-British woman in Myanmar gets 7 years jail
08:47 a.m. Sep 16, 1999 Eastern
By Aung Hla Tun

YANGON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - A 28-year-old British woman was sentenced to
seven years in jail in Myanmar on Thursday for staging a solo pro-democracy
protest in downtown Yangon last week that a court ruled endangered state
security.

Londoner Rachel Goldwyn was arrested on September 7 after she tied herself
to a lamp post in central Yangon and shouted pro-democracy slogans. She was
the second Briton jailed in Myanmar this month for pro-democracy activism.

Goldwyn was sentenced by a Yangon court under Myanmar's draconian Emergency
Provisions Act, used by the ruling military to stifle dissent. Presiding
judge Tin Maung Lwin said the sentence would have to be served ``with
labour.''

``Your activities could have disrupted the peace and tranquility of the
state,'' he said. ``And they also amounted to an insult to peace-loving
people.''

Britain's Foreign Office said it was ``shocked by the severity of the
sentence.'' It said the British ambassador would discuss her case with the
authorities along with that of James Mawdsley, a 26-year-old from Lancashire
jailed for 17 years on September 1.

Goldwyn, wearing a T-shirt and a traditional Myanmar sarong, appeared
surprised and disappointed when the sentence was translated into English but
said nothing in response.

Her lawyer, Kyi Win, said she would lodge an appeal, which must be done
within 90 days. Political analysts say Goldwyn could have her sentence
suspended if the appeal was successful and be deported given it was her
first offence.

She had earlier admitted the protest but said her aim was not to incite
unrest. Kyi Win argued that shouting and singing pro-democracy slogans were
not crimes.

``I wasn't trying to incite others -- I didn't want anybody to take risks,''
Goldwyn said. ``I was just trying to show the extent of control, not to
undermine security.''

Myanmar's military does not tolerate dissent and has been widely criticised
for rights abuses since taking direct power in 1988 by killing thousands to
crush a pro-democracy uprising.

It then ignored the last general election in 1990 when the opposition
National League for Democracy won by a landslide.

Mawdsley, who also holds an Australian passport, was jailed after crossing
into the northeast of the country at the end of last month carrying
pro-democracy leaflets.

The government said it could not be lenient with him as it was his third
arrest for similar protests in Myanmar. Mawdsley served 99 days of a
five-year sentence for illegal entry last year before being deported on
condition he never return.

The arrests came as the military cracked down to prevent an uprising called
by exiles for last week.

Diplomats estimate authorities arrested more than 100 local activists in
Yangon and others in the provinces in the past month to prevent the
uprising. Dissidents put the number of arrests at about 500 while the
government has reported fewer than 40.

Goldwyn has been held at the notorious Insein Jail where many political
prisoners have been detained in the past. The British embassy said before
the sentencing that she was being well treated and was in good spirits.

She said in a statement to the court that she was inspired by the actions of
a group of 18 activists who were deported after making a similar protest in
Yangon last year.

Before leaving England, Goldwyn left a letter for her parents saying she
expected to be back in about two weeks as she would be deported. But the
British Broadcasting Corporation quoted friends as saying she feared rape
and torture in jail.

On Wednesday, British and Australian officials saw Mawdsley in jail in the
northeastern town of Kengtung for the first time since his arrest. A British
official said he appeared well.