Min Ko Naing and Eight Members of the 88 Generation  Students Transferred to Ma-ubin Prison in the Delta

Yesterday(October 31st), the prison authorities transferred Min Ko Naing

and eight members of the 88 Generation Students to prisons far from

their familes -- nearly a five hour drive.  The 88 Students were

sentenced to six months imprisonment each on Oct 29 by a judge for

"contempt of court". Apparently, seeking a fair trial is considered

"contempt" by the Burmese military regime.  

On Oct 30, 2008, the Rangoon Northern District Court, held inside the

Insein Prison Compound, held a hearing against Min Ko Naing and 22

defendants.  Min Ko Naing and eight members of the group were brought

before the court with blue colored-prison uniforms while other

defendants wore civilian dress (since they were not yet convicted).

During the hearing, Min Ko Naing and all the defendants claimed that

they have no trust in the court's fairness, and therefore withdrew

power of attorney from their lawyers in protest. The next day, the nine

including Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Mya Aye, Nyan Linn, Pyone Choe (aka) Htay  Win Aung, Aung Thu, Hla Myo Naung, and Aung Naing (aka) Myo Aung  Naing

were transferred to Ma-ubin Prison with heavy security guards.  Ma-ubin

is in a region hit by Cyclone Nargis, and conditions are terrible.

On

Oct 31, the judges from Rangoon Southern District Court and Northern

District Court continued hearings of other members of the 88 Generation

Students inside the Insein Prison Compound. Min Ko Naing and the eight

were not present in the trials.  The

regime's prosecutors requested that the judges drop the cases against

the nine, and the judges agreed. Instead, it appears that the Burmese

military regime is planning to move the cases against Min Ko Naing and

the eight to Ma-ubin District Court where it will be very difficult to

obtain any information.

Four  Farmers, Who Asked the ILO for Help, Arrested, Others in  Hiding

The 88 Students are not the only people facing arrest and trial. A

group of framers from Aunglan (Myede) and Natmauk Townships in Magway

Division wrote to the International Labor Organization (a United

Nations agency) office in Rangoon in July 2008, reporting that their

farmlands were forcibly confiscated by the military regime.  They asked

the ILO for help, and shortly thereafter the ILO liaison officer came

to their areas to investigate. On Oct 20, the three farmers who signed

the letter to the ILO -- Hla Soe, Sein Sating and Nay Lin -- were arrested by the  Natmauk Police Station. On Oct 30, another signatory, Zaw Htay

was arrested by police in his home in Aunglan (Myede). They were

accused by the authorities trying to "defame' the state through their

letter. Other farmers, who also signed the letter, are now in hiding to

avoid arrest.

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