Burma holds six for attending US talk
Myanmar's military junta has put six rights activists who attended a US embassy May Day talk on trial for sedition, which is punishable by life imprisonment, their lawyer said.
The men, who are all in their late twenties and early thirties, are being tried at a closed military court inside Yangon's notorious Insein Prison, lawyer Aung Thein told Reuters.
Families of the accused were allowed to see them before the trial but they were not allowed into the hearing, which has been adjourned until July 31.
All six activists are former members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party of Nobel peace laureate and opposition figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest or in prison for more than 11 of the last 17 years.
The US embassy's cultural centre in the former Burma's commercial capital is something of a focal point for disaffected Yangon residents, who value its internet access and library.
At the May 1 meeting, which was primarily designed to discuss worker rights, the men were accused of voicing criticism of the junta that has ruled the former British colony for the last 45 years.
US officials were not immediately available for comment.
© 2007 Reuters, Click for Restrictions
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