World

Myanmar Frees Brit Activist

November 1, 1999 / 5:15 AM EST / AP

A British woman sentenced to seven years in prison after singing a pro-democracy song against Myanmar's military regime was released Monday after serving less than two months, a British embassy official said.

Rachel Goldwyn, 28, from Barnes in southwest London, was released from Yangon's Insein prison as a result of Â"quiet negotiationsÂ" with authorities in the military state, the official said on condition of anonymity.

At her trial, prosecution witnesses, including police and a passer-by, said 1,000 people gathered to watch 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.

Â"My demonstration was to show the extent of control,Â" she said. Â"It was not to undermine stability. I did not want anybody to take any risk, and I did not want anybody to be arrested.Â"

Another British activist, 26-year-old James Mawdsley, has been sentenced to 17 years' imprisonment for illegally entering Myanmar, also known as Burma, and carrying anti-government literature. He had been deported twice before and spent 99 days in solitary confinement in Myanmar last year.