Reuters-Britain urges quick appeal

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Subject: Reuters-Britain urges quick appeal for activist in Myanmar 

Britain urges quick appeal for activist in Myanmar
07:03 a.m. Sep 22, 1999 Eastern
BANGKOK, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Britain's ambassador in military-ruled Myanmar
on Wednesday called on the government to hear a British woman's appeal
against a seven-year jail term for a pro-democracy protest as soon as
possible.

The British embassy said ambassador John Jenkins met Yangon's Deputy Foreign
Minister Khin Maung Win and Attorney General Tha Tun to discuss Rachel
Goldwyn and James Mawdsley, a British man jailed for 17 years, also for
pro-democracy activism.

``He expressed concern about the way the cases have been handled and the
severity of the sentences. He pressed to have access to both of them soon
and he asked that Rachel's appeal be heard as soon as possible,'' a British
embassy official said.

``The Burmese are clearly taking these concerns seriously and we hope to
have access to Rachel before the end of the week,'' the official said. The
was no immediate comment from the government.

Goldwyn's lawyer said at her trial last Thursday that the 28-year-old human
rights worker would appeal. She was sentenced

following a solo street protest in Yangon the previous week that a court
ruled was a danger to state security.

The embassy said Mawdsley had not decided whether to appeal.

The a 26-year-old from Lancashire, who also has an Australian passport, was
jailed on September 1 after crossing into northeast Myanmar a day before
with pro-democracy leaflets.

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

Political analysts in Myanmar say Goldwyn could have her sentence suspended
if the appeal is successful and be deported given it was her first offence.

She has been held at Yangon's notorious Insein Jail where many political
prisoners have been detained in the past. The embassy has said she was being
well treated.

Mawdsley was being held in jail in the remote northeastern town of Kengtung,
where British and Australian officials saw him last week for the first time
since his arrest. He appeared well.