Protesters in Myanmar Face Death, Prison

Authorities in Myanmar, formerly Burma, adopted stiff new penalties Tuesday for violations of martial law, providing for the death penalty and prison terms to be meted out on the spot.

The measures were announced in the capital of Yangon, formerly Rangoon, on the eve of expected mass demonstrations marking Martyrs’ Day. The demonstrations could provoke a confrontation between pro-democracy groups and the martial-law government.

Martyrs’ Day commemorates the assassination of the seven men who led Burma to independence from Britain in 1948.

Government radio announced that anyone accused of defying martial law, imposed last September, will now be tried by military courts. The military was empowered to impose summary sentences ranging from three years’ imprisonment to execution.

Under martial law, public gatherings of more than five people are prohibited.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has said she plans to lead a march today through the capital to the Martyrs’ Mausoleum. She said that people from 104 opposition parties are expected to take part and that “we will be marching in the thousands, but we shall be peaceful and disciplined.” Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of one of the seven martyred leaders.

The march, if it occurs, will be in defiance of the military government, which has invited Aung San Suu Kyi to take part in a government-sponsored observance of Martyrs’ Day.

Sound trucks roamed the streets of Yangon on Tuesday, warning residents to stay away from today’s scheduled protest demonstrations. Several thousand people were killed last year when student-led demonstrations demanding increased democracy were forcibly dispersed by the Burmese army.

There has been considerable disorder in the country since June, 1988, when Gen. Ne Win stepped down after 26 years as national leader. He had practiced an eccentric brand of socialism that left the country’s economy in ruins.

Gen. Saw Maung took power in a coup last Sept. 18 and promptly cracked down on pro-democracy demonstrators, but the movement has been building again.

On Monday, military authorities announced that three members of Aung San Suu Kyi’s party had been arrested in connection with a bomb attack at a government oil refinery. Three people were killed and two wounded in the July 7 attack.

Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested earlier this month after making a public speech critical of the Saw Maung government but was released not long afterward.