The 18 Burmese nationals who were arrested last week for participating in a demonstration held outside their homeland's embassy in Kuala Lumpur have been charged with unlawful assembly.

According to their lawyer Latheefa Koya, the 18 were taken to the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate's Court yesterday and charged under section 27 (5) of the Police Act, where a gathering of more than three people without a police permit is deemed as unlawful assembly.

The court fixed April 19 for hearing to record the plea from the group.

"The haven't pleaded guilty since they do not understand the charge, therefore the court must wait for an interpreter to assist them on April 19," the lawyer said when contacted.

While waiting for their trial, the Burmese will be held in the Sungai Buloh prison except for one female demonstrator who will be detained at the Kajang prison.

Last Friday, Cheras district police chief Mohd Nor Masdar said that eight out of the 18 - who are registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) - would be released .

However, Latheefa said that all of them were still in police custody while the UNHCR office in Kuala Lumpur said it has no information about the 18.

Calls for dialogue

The demonstrators were arrested after a 35-minute demonstration against the national constitution convention organised by the Burmese military junta.

Instead, the protestors demanded the junta to free Burmese pro democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners. They called for dialogues between both parties.

The protestors also claimed to be members of the Democratic Party for a New Society, the second largest party next to the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Suu Kyi.

This was the second mass arrest of Burmese nationals this year. Last month, 164 Burmese nationals of ethnic Chin origin, were picked up by the police also on a charge of unlawful assembly after protesting against alleged persecution of their predominantly Christian community by the military junta.

The Attorney-General's Chamber later decided not to press charges against them. According to the UNHCR, all of them are being held at the immigration detention centre in Lenggeng, Negri Sembilan.