Thailand to try Burmese students for hijacking. Oct. 9, 1989

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Two Burmese students who hijacked a Burmese jetliner last Friday and surrendered peacefully to Thai officials have been denied political asylum and will be tried in compliance with international law, Deputy Prime Minister Thienchai Sirisamphan said Monday.
The government has already assured the students, who admitted hijacking the aircraft to spotlight human rights abuses by Burma's military government, would not be deported to their homeland.


The maximum penalty for hijacking under Thai law is death but it does not appear the penalty would be imposed if the students are convicted.
Thienchai said the decision to prosecute the students was made Monday by the government's anti-terrorism committee.
He said the committee decided it could not grant them political asylum and no other country had offered to give the students refuge.
Thienchai, chairman of the anti-terrorism committee, said the committee expressed sympathy for the students because they did not harm anyone and because they only sought sympathy for the pro-democracy movement in Burma.
'We don't want to take any action against them, but we can't ignore the law. We have no choice but to respect the law and our commitment with other nations,' Thienchai said.
'The maximum penalty could be the death sentence but we don't want to speak of that,' Thienchai said.
He said the Thai navy, currently holding the hijackers, would turn them over to local police who will conduct the formal criminal investigation.
Ye Yint, 21, and Ye Thi Ha, 25, forced a Myanmar (Burma) Airways plane with 83 other passengers and crew to land in Thailand on Friday evening.
They threatened to blow up the plane unless the Burmese military government released all political prisoners, ordered troops enforcing martial law back to their barracks and agreed to hold free elections.
After 10 hours of negotiations led by Thienchai, the hijackers surrendered without harming passengers or plane. The plane and passengers were returned to Burma.


links

http://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/10/09/Thailand-to-try-Burmese-students-for-hijacking/7220623908800/