World

Myanmar Deports Foreign Activists

August 14, 1998 / 9:52 AM EDT / AP

Eighteen foreigners were expelled today from Myanmar after six days in custody for distributing leaflets critical of the military government. They arrived in neighboring Thailand to a joyous welcome.

Relatives, friends and supporters mobbed and hugged the activists at Bangkok's airport. They were draped with garlands of flowers, a traditional Thai greeting.

"Of course, I'm very happy," said Ellene Sana, 36, a social activist from the Philippines. "I didn't want to stay there any longer."

The activists, including six Americans, were convicted in a one-day trial in Myanmar on Friday of violating the southeast Asian nation's 1950 Emergency Provisions Act and sentenced to five years hard labor.

The catch-all law has been used to sentence hundreds of political prisoners to terms as long as 20 years in Myanmar, also known as Burma.

Almost immediately after sentencing, Myanmar officials announced that the punishment was suspended and the activists would be deported.

A government statement said the government believed the activists were "misguided youths" being exploited by anti-government groups "to perform subversive activities and become sacrificial lambs for them."

In addition to the Americans, the activists included three Indonesians, three Malaysians, three Thais, two Filipinos and an Australian. They are students, social activists, academics, lawyers and a businessman.

"As foreigners, we were treated like kings and queens," said Sapna Chattpar, 21, one of four students from American University in Washington among the group. "We were given rooms with fans and air conditioning. We were given all the food we needed."

"What's horrible about this is, we were able to leave six days later while Burmese who were sentenced to the exact same thing have been sentenced to life or even killed," Chattpar said.

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, chairman of the House International Operations and Human Rights subcommittee, was among those greeting the group at the Bangkok airport.

Smith, a New Jersey Republican, had traveled to Thailand to press for the release of the activists. One of the activists, Michele Keegan, 19, is from Hamilton Township, N.J.

The other Americans are Chattpar; Nisha Marie Anand, 21, of Atlanta; Joel Edward Greer, 34, of New York; Anjanette Hamilton, 20, of Portsmouth, N.H.; and Tyler Gianini, 28, of Washington.

The activists were detained Sunday, the day after the 10th anniversary of a failed nationwide democracy uprising in Myanmar, for handing out cards to Myanmar citizens telling them the outside world supported their struggle and not to give up.

Diplomats were caught by surprise Friday when the activists were suddenly put on trial.

"(The trial) was a big performance, it looked like they were making it up as they went along," Chattpar said.

The activists were warned that if they reurn to Myanmar and violate the laws again, they will serve the five-year suspended sentence plus any new prison sentence.

The activists' campaign was part of an attempt by Myanmar's pro-democracy opposition, led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, to press the government to meet her Aug. 21 deadline to convene a parliament elected in 1990.

The opposition overwhelmingly won those elections, but the government never recognized the result. The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962.

In Myanmar, meanwhile, Suu Kyi remained at a roadblock in her fifth day of a standoff with authorities.

Earlier this week, Myanmar's military junta blocked Suu Kyi when she tried to travel outside the capital to meet with members of her political party, the National League for Democracy, claiming the journey was unsafe.