Malaysia prepares to deport Burmese activists

DVB ( July 08,2003 )

It is reported that the Malaysian authorities are preparing to deport three Burmese activists who staged a protest in front of the Burmese embassy in Kuala Lumpur to celebrate the birthday of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on the 19th of June.

The Burmese activists in Malaysia are said be gravely concerned for their safety. The three are; U Thaung Shwe [aka] U Michael, ex-NLD member of Lanmadaw Township, Rangoon, a Karen national Saw Eh Wah and a Chin national Si Man Si Hu. Ko Tommy of Democracy Alliance based in Kuala Lumpur expressed his grave concerns for the three as follows:

Ko Tommy : The three will be taken to the court on the 24th of July and if they were found guilty of illegal entry into the country, they will be each given three lashes and six months in prison. Then, they will be taken to the Thai border. If they were handed over to the Thai immigration office, they could be sent back all the way to Kawthaung, southern Burma and they will be in the hand of the Burmese army. Therefore, I am very worried and we issued a statement in concerning with this yesterday.

Ko Tommy also explained his efforts to free them as follows:

Ko Tommy : We approached human rights organisations here and they directed us to lawyers as the case has become a trial, and the lawyers redirected us to the UN… The case is to do with illegal entry into Malaysia and we are working with human rights lawyers in the court.

Burmese activists are saying that Malaysian government have arrested these Burmese activists who were staging protests against the military regime to improve the relationship with the SPDC.