Burmese Military Junta Sentences Pro-Democracy Activists to Harsh Prison Sentences

Myanmar Sentences 14 Democracy Supporters
By THE NEW YORK TIMES

BANGKOK — Myanmar’s military leadership continued its crackdown on dissent Tuesday, handing down prison sentences of 65 years each to 14 pro-democracy advocates, according to regional news accounts and reports on a Web site for exiles.

The convictions came a day after a blogger was sentenced to 20 years for “creating public alarm,” among other offenses, The Associated Press reported.

Tuesday’s sentences were delivered by judges operating within the compound of Insein prison, which holds many of the country’s estimated 2,000 political prisoners. Family members spoke to news agency reporters in Yangon, the country’s largest city, and said that they and defense lawyers were not allowed into the courtroom.

The Irrawaddy Web site, which is based in neighboring Thailand, listed the names of 14 advocates it said were sentenced to the 65-year terms.

Some of the advocates were reported to be veterans of 1988 pro-democracy uprising that nearly succeeded in toppling the country’s military leaders. The advocates were arrested in August 2007 in the early stages of protests that swelled later in the year into mass demonstrations led by monks that were violently put down.

Relatives of the advocates said they were convicted under a wide range of laws like the Foreign Exchange Act, which bans Burmese from holding foreign currency without permission. Other laws reportedly used were the Video Act and Electronics Act, which require Burmese to hold permits for various types of ordinary electronic equipment.

One of the best-known examples of the use of these laws was the sentencing in 1996 of James Nichols, an honorary consul for Norway, to three years for possession of a fax machine without a permit in his Yangon home. He died in detention, several months after his conviction in April 1996. Analysts say the real reason for the conviction appeared to be his friendship with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy leader who is under house arrest.

Punishments for dissidents have become much harsher in recent years, according to Win Min, an expert on Burmese politics at Chiang Mai University in northern Thailand. A decade ago a sentence of 20 years was considered very unusual, Mr. Win Min said. The 65-year sentences handed down Tuesday are in effect life terms, Mr. Win Min said.

“They rule the country by fear and this was a way to give the young generation fear,” Mr. Win Min said of the junta. “By giving out long sentences the new generation will be discouraged from protesting.”

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