P R E S S R E L E A S E:
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 6, 2003, 5:30PM EST
Contact: Aung Din, 202-547-5985; 301-602-0077 (cell)

Protests Reported in Burma Over Detention of
Aung San Suu Kyi, Massacre of NLD Members

Free Burma Coalition Calls for International Solidarity Campaign
to Pressure Regime and its Supporters

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Free Burma Coalition has received news of a protest today in Burma calling for the release of democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. According to reliable sources inside Burma, about forty people shouted for Aung San Suu Kyi's release and carried signboards in Pathein Township, Irrawaddy division. U Aye Win, organizing committee member of the NLD, led the protest. According to reports, U Aye Win was approached by a Military Intelligence officer who attempted to handcuff him and U Aye Win resisted being cuffed at first, but was later arrested. Sources say that people throughout Burma are becoming restive over the ongoing detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of the National
League for Democracy party.

Aung Din, Director of Policy for the Free Burma Coalition and former
political prisoner in Burma, sees the protest as an important sign of
resistance to the military regime of General Than Shwe. "Now is the time to act. The people of Burma are bravely risking their lives to be free from this terrorist regime, and people around the world must join them in solidarity and push for regime change in Burma," he said.

The Free Burma Coalition is issuing a call for the U.S. to raise the
crackdown on democracy with other members of the UN Security Council as well as for the U.S. to ban imports from Burma, freeze the regime's overseas assets. The Coalition is calling on all supporters of human rights and democracy to take part in actions that will further these goals, including joining in demonstrations on Monday afternoon across from the United Nations Building in New York and on June 19th in protests around the world. Pressure is already coming from the U.S., which today extended an existing visa ban against the regime to include leaders of the Union Solidarity and Development Association - the regime's political arm, largely responsible for last week's massacre.

There are other unconfirmed reports of acts of resistance inside Burma that the Free Burma Coalition feels deserve solidarity and support, including unconfirmed reports that Aung San Suu Kyi is engaging in a hunger strike, refusing both food and medical treatment being offered by Diplomatic sources in Rangoon claim that currently she is being held in a
military camp about 25 miles north of Rangoon. The Free Burma Coalition is concerned for her safety, since it is possible that the regime may drug her or otherwise mistreat her while she is detained.

"Than Shwe is going to feel the heat from all sides," Aung Din said. "He is directly responsible for last Friday's massacre. The international community and people the world over should be unwavering in their response: it is time for him to go. This regime must end in Burma."