Asiaweek -British protester sentenc (r)

[johnrabin@xxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Re: Asiaweek -British protester sentenced to seven years in prison in Myanmar

What can we do to release the two democracy activists?

Can we seize the Burmese embassy in London to exchange with the
activists. Let us know your plan. I will join with you.

I could not believe that singing a pro-democracy song got 7 year
imprisonment plus hard labor, and crossing the border line got 17 year
in prison. WOW!!

Let me tell you that any non-violent action , according with the U.S.
Constitution, is allowed in my country, the United State, regardless of
person, size, and limit. As a result, many protestors in front of The
White House can be seen everyday. Some are aginst President Clinton
directly, and some are against the U.S. government. But no one is
arrested for expressing his or her voice because we respect the
differences. And, the US Government is also confident on that,the power
of  democratically elected persons. 

But the regime in Burma is  less confident, brutal, and short minded
because the regime is not a legitimate. 

  


--- TIN KYI <tinkyi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> British protester sentenced to seven years in prison
> in Myanmar
>               
>             British democracy activist Rachel
> Goldwyn in an undated photo. A Myanmar court
> sentenced Goldwyn on Thursday to seven years
> imprisonment for a protest against Myanmar's
> military regime. 
> 
>              
>      
> September 17, 1999 
> Web posted at: 4:24 AM HKT (2024 GMT) 
> 
> 
> YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- A British activist was
> sentenced to seven years in prison Thursday for
> protesting Myanmar's military regime by chaining
> herself to a lamppost and shouting pro-democracy
> slogans. 
> 
> Prosecution witnesses, including police and a
> passer-by, said about 1,000 people gathered to watch
> Rachel Goldwyn's protest in downtown Yangon, the
> capital, on Sept. 7. There were no defense
> witnesses. 
> 
> Goldwyn, 28, of London, received the maximum
> possible sentence on the charge of committing
> actions likely to cause public unrest. 
> 
> Asked by the judge if she was guilty, she admitted
> the facts of her case but denied that her motive was
> to disrupt stability. 
> 
> "My demonstration was to show the extent of
> control," she said. "It was not to undermine
> stability. I did not want anybody to take any risk
> and I did not want anybody to be arrested." 
> 
> Her lawyer said he would appeal. 
> 
> The sentence in the Southeast Asian country also
> known as Burma drew shock from Goldwyn's family in
> London. 
> 
> Her mother, Charmian Goldwyn, said she was
> "absolutely desperate" and feared for her daughter's
> health and safety. 
> 
> "I just couldn't believe it," she said. "We all cry,
> and then cry again all the time." 
> 
> Two weeks ago, another British activist, 26-year-old
> James Mawdsley, was sentenced to 17 years'
> imprisonment for entering Myanmar illegally and
> carrying anti-government literature. He had been
> deported twice before and spent 99 days in solitary
> confinement in Myanmar last year. 
> 
> Meanwhile, the country's main opposition force, the
> National League for Democracy, declared on Thursday
> it would never relinquish its 1990 election victory
> that the ruling military refuses to recognize. 
> 
> The NLD, led by 1991 Nobel Peace laureate Aung San
> Suu Kyi, also said it would not dissolve a 10-member
> committee set up a year ago to represent the
> parliament that was never convened. 
> 
> The government views the committee as a direct
> challenge to its legitimacy and has branded it a
> blatant violation of the law. 
> 
> 

> ATTACHMENT part 2 image/jpeg name=story.goldwyn.ap.jpg


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