Detained Indonesians 'treated well in Yangon'

JAKARTA (JP): Three Indonesian activists detained since Sunday in Myanmar for allegedly distributing pro-democracy leaflets are being treated well, Indonesian Ambassador Poerwanto Lenggono said in Yangon yesterday.

"They are staying in the local police's guest house, not in jail ... they are treated well," Poerwanto told The Jakarta Post by phone from the Myanmar capital.

He also said embassy staff had met with the activists -- R. Fadjri, Sulaiman Haikal and Christian Evert -- who were detained along with 15 other foreign activists for the same offense.

They are being interrogated by the local authorities, Poerwanto said, adding his mission was engaged in a "diplomatic approach" to seek their release.

"We have urged the local government to release and deport them," Poerwanto said. "I cannot guarantee that they will be released (soon), but I am sure they will be released ... only it will take some time, because this is a political case."

Sulaiman Haikal and Christian Evert are activists of PIJAR, a Jakarta-based non-governmental organization which established a reputation for staging pro-democracy demonstrations during former president Soeharto's regime.

R. Fadjri is a Yogyakarta-based correspondent of The Jakarta Post and D&R magazine.

The Post delivered a letter yesterday to Myanmar Ambassador to Indonesia U Nyi Nyi Than, strongly protesting the arrest and urging the release of the activists. It also said Fadjri was in Myanmar to participate in a series of activities to promote freedom of expression.

"Mr. Fadjri had gone to Thailand to take part in a series of activities to promote freedom of expression, which is universally accepted as a prerequisite for democracy. His presence in Myanmar was part of that campaign," said the letter, signed by the Post's chief editor, Susanto Pudjomartono.

The Myanmar government risked causing "irreparable damage" to its reputation if it prolonged the detention of the activists, the letter continued.

It would also "undermine the relations between (Yangon) and the rest of the world, including most of all Indonesia".

Similar calls for the activists' release were also sounded through a peaceful rally in front of the Myanmar Embassy on Jl. H. Agus Salim, Central Jakarta, by members of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and D&R journalists.

Fadjri is also an AJI member.

Friends said Fadjri's wife Nining first learned of the arrest yesterday morning, but appeared calm and strong. "She sensed that something was wrong the previous night," one friend said.

The couple has a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Puti.

Also detained are six Americans, an Australian, three Thais, three Malaysians and two Filipinos.

Reuter quoted one diplomat as saying the activists received visits from their embassies yesterday afternoon; they were reported to be generally well but "glad to see our faces".

A U.S. embassy spokeswoman said the six Americans were given "crackers, bagel chips and candy bars -- things to identify with" when they met two U.S. officials yesterday.

"They are fine. There are no complaints," she said.

The Myanmar government has declined to confirm rumors the activists will be tried, saying only that "the legal process is underway and (it would) be premature to give comment on the outcome at this moment".

The activists were reportedly arrested as they handed out about 10,000 red, palm-sized leaflets reminding the Myanmar people not to forget a crackdown on opposition demonstrators 10 years ago. The leaflets carried the message: "8888 -- Don't forget -- Don't give up".

On August 8, 1988, soldiers fired on a pro-democracy demonstration near Yangon city hall, killing many civilians. Opposition supporters say thousands of people died in the unrest that followed. The military puts the death toll at several dozen.

Reporting the detention of the activists for the first time Monday, all three of Myanmar's state-owned newspapers said the group colluded with "internal ax handles", the term by which the government commonly refers to traitors.

They said the "plot" was arranged outside Myanmar and that "the authorities are planning to take necessary actions against them".

Several diplomats said they thought the government would prefer to expel the detainees rather than risk a protracted and probably high-profile incident. But others said the activists could be held for some time before being deported.

The latter was the case with James Mawdsley, a foreign activist who was detained in September 1997 for chaining himself to a fence and shouting antigovernment slogans. The holder of British and Australian passports was sentenced to five years in jail and fined for entering the country illegally. He was deported last week after serving three months of his prison term.

Sunday's leafleting was organized by the Alternative ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Network on Burma (Altsean-Burma), which supports Myanmar's democracy movement. (aan)