RANGOON, Burma - Burma's military junta accused detained prodemocracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's political party of inciting unrest and instigating Buddhist monks to take part in protests over price hikes, state media reported yesterday.The regime also said that prodemocracy groups outside Burma and foreign media were deliberately spreading false information to destabilize the government, comparing the current situation to mass protests in 1988 when thousands of demonstrators were believed killed by security forces. "Internal and external destructive elements are inciting a period of civil unrest like the one in 1988," the New Light of Myanmar newspaper said. "It has been found that foreign broadcasting stations are launching political propaganda and exaggerated news reports on the demonstrations with the intent of misleading the public."
The report comes as Buddhist monks in northern Burma, angry at being beaten for protesting fuel price rises, vandalized a shop belonging to supporters of the military government, witnesses said. The destruction Thursday night in the town of Pakokku came just hours after monks held a group of officials captive at a monastery for several hours before releasing them, also to protest their rough treatment during a march a day earlier.
Wednesday's demonstration was the latest in a string of protests triggered by a 500 percent rise in government-set fuel prices, but one of the first in which the country's monks took part. Civilian supporters of the government kicked and beat the monks and soldiers fired shots into the air, witnesses said.
In a case unrelated to the price protests, six labor activists received prison sentences of up to 28 years for organizing a seminar at a US Embassy center earlier this year, a defense lawyer said yesterday. All six were found guilty Friday of inciting "hatred or contempt" for the government, lawyer Aung Thein said. Some were also convicted of having links to illegal associations and immigration violations.
The six - all in their 20s - had planned to discuss labor rights at the US Embassy's American Center in Rangoon, the country's biggest city, but the plans were canceled after a few participants were arrested. Thurein Aung, Wai Lin, Myo Min, and Kyaw Win were sentenced to 28 years in prison by a Western District court. Nyi Nyi Zaw and Kyaw Kyaw were given 20-year sentences.