Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03RANGOON1478
2003-11-19 01:38:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Rangoon
Cable title:
NLD MP-ELECT DETAILS IMPRISONMENT
how-toThis record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L RANGOON 001478
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/17/2013
TAGS: PHUM PGOV BM NLD
SUBJECT: NLD MP-ELECT DETAILS IMPRISONMENT
Classified By: DCM RON MCMULLEN FOR REASON 1.5 (B) AND (D).
C O N F I D E N T I A L RANGOON 001478
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/17/2013
TAGS: PHUM PGOV BM NLD
SUBJECT: NLD MP-ELECT DETAILS IMPRISONMENT
Classified By: DCM RON MCMULLEN FOR REASON 1.5 (B) AND (D).
1. (C) NLD MP-elect U Hla Min, 65, credits UNSR Pinheiro
with winning his release from prison November 9 after the
regime held him for five months without charge. Hla Min is
the last of the Professional Development Program (PDP)
students swept up in the post-May 30 anti-NLD crackdown to be
released. (Note: PDP - protect - is a stealthy,
embassy-sponsored training and development program for senior
NLD cadre.) Emboff met with Hla Min November 17 and received
the following details of his arrest and imprisonment. Hla
Min's account typifies the personal sagas of numerous NLD
members after May 30.
2. (C) Hla Min was traveling with Aung San Suu Kyi's convoy
on her ill-fated trip, but he stayed behind on May 19 to get
two broken-down cars repaired. Help came from the Kachin
Independence Organization, which may have inflamed the SPDC,
he speculated. Hla Min was arrested on June 3 in Rangoon and
was kept at a township Military Intelligence camp for 45 days
before being transferred to Insein Prison. When he asked why
he was imprisoned, "disturbing the peace" was the only answer
he got. He was able to call his family three times early on,
received three food parcels while in Insein, and saw a doctor
daily, who recorded his heartbeat and blood pressure.
3. (C) UNSR Pinheiro interviewed Hla Min on November 5 and
expressed puzzlement as to why he was imprisoned. Apparently
no formal charges were ever filed against Hla Min, which
enabled the authorities to release him on November 9. Hla
Min credits the Pinheiro interview for his relatively early
release. Hla Min said that had the regime filed formal
charges, he was apt to have been sentenced to seven years,
plus the two years knocked off his 1997 - 2001 jail term.
When asked about any political plans, the NLD MP-elect
shrugged and replied, "We are just followers--with our
leaders in prison we can't do anything."
Martinez
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/17/2013
TAGS: PHUM PGOV BM NLD
SUBJECT: NLD MP-ELECT DETAILS IMPRISONMENT
Classified By: DCM RON MCMULLEN FOR REASON 1.5 (B) AND (D).
1. (C) NLD MP-elect U Hla Min, 65, credits UNSR Pinheiro
with winning his release from prison November 9 after the
regime held him for five months without charge. Hla Min is
the last of the Professional Development Program (PDP)
students swept up in the post-May 30 anti-NLD crackdown to be
released. (Note: PDP - protect - is a stealthy,
embassy-sponsored training and development program for senior
NLD cadre.) Emboff met with Hla Min November 17 and received
the following details of his arrest and imprisonment. Hla
Min's account typifies the personal sagas of numerous NLD
members after May 30.
2. (C) Hla Min was traveling with Aung San Suu Kyi's convoy
on her ill-fated trip, but he stayed behind on May 19 to get
two broken-down cars repaired. Help came from the Kachin
Independence Organization, which may have inflamed the SPDC,
he speculated. Hla Min was arrested on June 3 in Rangoon and
was kept at a township Military Intelligence camp for 45 days
before being transferred to Insein Prison. When he asked why
he was imprisoned, "disturbing the peace" was the only answer
he got. He was able to call his family three times early on,
received three food parcels while in Insein, and saw a doctor
daily, who recorded his heartbeat and blood pressure.
3. (C) UNSR Pinheiro interviewed Hla Min on November 5 and
expressed puzzlement as to why he was imprisoned. Apparently
no formal charges were ever filed against Hla Min, which
enabled the authorities to release him on November 9. Hla
Min credits the Pinheiro interview for his relatively early
release. Hla Min said that had the regime filed formal
charges, he was apt to have been sentenced to seven years,
plus the two years knocked off his 1997 - 2001 jail term.
When asked about any political plans, the NLD MP-elect
shrugged and replied, "We are just followers--with our
leaders in prison we can't do anything."
Martinez