|
|
Change Your Life! |
Suu Kyi could face death penalty for treason |
|
News
|
May 3, 2000 YANGON, MAY 2 (AP) - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her followers could face the death penalty or life imprisonment for committing high treason because of alleged links to outlawed rebel groups, a government newspaper said Tuesday.
A commentary in the Mirror daily accused Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, of being "power crazy," bent on blocking foreign aid and investment and trying to foment disunity among the country's ethnic minorities.
The accusations came as the military regime played host to economic ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Japan, China and South Korea, its biggest diplomatic event since Myanmar was admitted into ASEAN in 1997.
The government, often criticized by Western nations for human rights abuses, has recently arrested members of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy for alleged links to rebel groups who maintain a fading armed struggle against the regime along Myanmar's border with Thailand.
"There is evidence that Suu Kyi has contacts with dissidents and armed terrorist groups," the commentary said. "Hence Daw Suu Kyi and her accomplices could face death penalty or life imprisonment under high treason." Daw is an honorific.
People in Myanmar, also known as Burma, are losing confidence in Suu Kyi and wanted the government to take concrete action against her in the national interest, the newspaper said.
Nearly all newspapers in Myanmar are run by the government. Editorials and commentaries often rail against Suu Kyi, who was vaulted to world prominence during an uprising against military rule in 1988 that was bloodily crushed.
Suu Kyi was placed under what became six years of house arrest in 1989, but a year later her party swept general elections. The military, surprised that parties it had supported lost, never allowed parliament to convene.
The National League for Democracy espouses nonviolence. According to international human rights groups, hundreds of its members have been jailed for their political views.
Last week, Aye Thar Aung, a senior party official responsible for issues related to ethnic minorities was arrested, reportedly accused of connections to anti-government rebel groups.
The Mirror lashed out at Suu Kyi, whose activities are severely restricted, for smuggling videotapes out of Myanmar, which it said were sent to international conferences to discredit the government.
It accused Western embassies of abusing their diplomatic immunity by helping to smuggle tapes out.
In one such interview smuggled out last Thursday, Suu Kyi said military authorities had arrested more than 40 NLD youth members during a public holiday in mid-April.
The government said a "a couple" of NLD activists were being questioned for alleged connections with a "terrorist demolition team" near the Thai border.
|