-----Original Message----- From: mm than [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, 11 May 2001 9:37 To: gavin Subject: Federal Police Needs to apologize MEDIA RELEASE May 10, 2001 Attention: Chief of Staff Foreign Affairs Reporter Federal Police attack Burmese protest in Canberra, linked to Burma visit Federal Police last Friday, May 4, attacked a peaceful protest by 80 Burmese people and supporters outside the Burmese Military Embassy in Yarralumla, on the pretext that the burning of the flag of the military dictatorship was a threat to order. At the same time, the AFP Director General, Michael Keelty and a police delegation were in Rangoon (Yangon), where they visited the Criminal Investigation Department and attended the opening of an Australian Police Force Public Relations Office at the Australian Embassy. Keelty's group flew home on May 5. "The AFP became more aggressive to our protest to facilitate their cooperation with the Burmese police and military regime," said Maung Maung Than of the Free Burma Action Committee, who was among those kicked and beaten by the police in Canberra. "We call for a parliamentary inquiry into the attack by the AFP against our protest on May 4, and for a parliamentary review of the AFP program in Burma," said Maung Maung Than. "We appreciate the support of Wayne Barry, Labor Leader in the ACT Legislative Assembly, and Jeremy Pyner of the ACT Trades & Labor Council for an inquiry, and a formal police apology to the Burmese community. "The Australian government is making the same mistake in Burma that it made in Indonesia and East Timor, by placing trust in a brutal military dictatorship," said Maung Maung Than. "Instead of cooperating with and legitimising these generals who have imposed forced labour on two million Burmese people, the Australian government should join the global movement to fully isolate and discredit the military dictatorship in Burma." For further comment: Ko Maung Maung Than - Central Coordinator, Free Burma Action Committee Phone / Fax: +61-2-96435646; mobile 0411337816 Email. [EMAIL PROTECTED], www.actionfreeburma.com ++++++ -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
