Monthly Archives: May 2009
Myanmar police to testify against Suu Kyi
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/AfpNews/090519053818.0jvp6d9d.txt/afpMyanmar
Myanmar police were expected to give evidence against pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on the second day of a trial that has sparked international outrage.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner is accused of breaching the terms of her house arrest after American John Yettaw swam to her lakeside home earlier this month, a charge which could see her jailed for between three and five years.
Around 100 members of her opposition party gathered again outside the notorious Insein prison near Yangon, where the trial is being held behind closed doors, watched by riot police manning a tight security cordon.
Yettaw and two political assistants who live with Aung San Suu Ky i at the residence where she has been detained for most of the last 19 years are also on trial.
“The trial will continue with the official complaints by the police. We don’t know if Suu Kyi will speak today. All four will be in court,” a Myanmar official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The first witness, a police colonel who filed the original complaint against her, gave evidence on Monday. A total of 22 witnesses are expected to testify — 21 of them police officers.
The trial has led to renewed calls for the release of the 63-year-old, and on Monday night Myanmar’s partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which rarely criticises the junta, finally joined in.
A statement issued by Thailand, which holds the rotating chairmanship of the bloc, expressed “grave concern about recent developments relating to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, given her fragile health.”
“With the eyes of the international community on Myanmar at present, the honour and the credibility of the Government of the Union of Myanmar are at stake,” it said.
In Manila, about 30 Filipino protesters marched in front of Myanmar’s embassy on Tuesday to call for her freedom and there were similar protests on Monday in Canada, Japan, Thailand and Hong Kong.
Myanmar’s tightly controlled state media reported on the trial for the first time overnight, giving a rare mention of the imprisoned activist, who is still seen as the junta’s most powerful foe.
State television and radio carried brief items late Monday while the government mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar newspaper and Burmese-language Myanmar Ahlin had back-page reports on Tuesday.
In Washington, US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Monday that a US consular officer was present in the courtroom for the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi and Yettaw.
Yettaw used a pair of homemade flippers to swim across the lake to Aung San Suu Kyi’s house, where he allegedly stayed between May 3 and May 5. He also allegedly crossed to the property on November 30, 2008.
Her latest six-year period of detention was due to expire on May 27, but Yettaw’s visit has apparently provided the ruling generals with the ammunition they need to extend her detention past polls due in 2010.
The junta, headed by reclusive Senior General Than Shwe, has kept Aung San Suu Kyi in detention for a total of 13 years since 1990, when it refused to recognise her party’s landslide victory in Myanmar’s last elections.
The military has ruled Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, since 1962.
A western diplomat in Yangon said that Myanmar was “surprised and rather embarrassed” by the scope of the international reaction to the trial.
The diplomat said it was likely that Myanmar’s giant neighbour and ally China, which has been silent on the issue, privately urged the generals to find a way to calm the international uproar.
French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy meanwhile appealed for Aung San Suu Kyi’s release in an open letter to Myanmar.
EU nations were mulling an increase in sanctions against the Myanmar regime but many see China and India as the best hopes of applying pressure on the junta.
Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi on trial
Undercover BBC correspondent: ‘People here are very angry’
Burma’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has gone on trial at the notorious Insein prison in Rangoon.
She is charged with breaching the terms of her house arrest, because of a visit by an American man who swam across a lake to her house earlier this month.
Dozens of supporters gathered near the jail as the trial got under way. It has now been adjourned for the day.
Many observers see the charges as a pretext to ensure Ms Suu Kyi is in jail during next year’s elections.
Ms Suu Kyi has already spent 13 of the past 19 years in jail or detained in her home, and faces a further three to five years’ imprisonment if found guilty of these latest charges.
Suu Kyi supporters gather near prison
It is unclear how long the trial will take, but estimates range from a few days to several weeks, as the government is expected to summon 22 witnesses to support its claim.
Two of Ms Suu Kyi’s assistants are on trial with her, and Mr Yettaw is also being tried.
Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party won landslide elections rejected by the military in 1990, and she was awarded the Nobel peace prize soon after.
Wire barricades
Security is tight around Insein prison, says a BBC reporter in Rangoon – whose name is being withheld for his safety, because all foreign journalists are barred from Burma.
Dozens of supporters, including prominent members of her National League for Democracy party, gathered near the jail in quiet protest.
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But riot police set up barbed wire barricades to prevent them getting too close and plain-clothes officers filmed them.
The ambassadors of Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy were barred from entering the prison, but the US consul was reportedly allowed in, possibly to see Mr Yettaw.
Mr Yettaw was thought to be in the courtroom with Ms Suu Kyi on the first day of the trial, though it is unclear whether he was being tried as part of the case against Ms Suu Kyi.
There are no outside observers, but unnamed Burmese and opposition officials said proceedings had now been adjourned until Tuesday, after several hours of testimony.
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A LIFE IN DETENTION
1988: Military junta comes to power after crushing pro-democracy uprising
1989: Martial law declared; opposition NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi put under house arrest
1990: NLD wins elections; result rejected by the ruling junta
1995: Suu Kyi released from house arrest, but movements restricted
Sept 2000: Put under house arrest again when she tried to defy travel restrictions
May 2002: Released unconditionally
May 2003: Detained after clash between NLD and government forces
Sept 2003: Allowed home after operation, but under effective house arrest. In the years since, the orders for her detention periodically renewed
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Mr Yettaw arrived on her back lawn in Rangoon earlier this month, after swimming across a lake using home-made flippers.
He was almost certainly uninvited, and Ms Suu Kyi’s lawyers say she will plead not guilty to breaking the terms of her house arrest, saying he was allowed to stay only because he pleaded exhaustion.
Ms Suu Kyi’s home is one of the most closely guarded locations in Rangoon, and her supporters believe the military authorities must have allowed the man to reach it, as he tried the same stunt unsuccessfully last November.
According to Burma’s constitution, Ms Suu Kyi was scheduled to be freed on 27 May after six consecutive years of house arrest.
The misguided exploits of an apparently well-intentioned individual have now given the military government a pretext to keep her locked up, say correspondents.
Analysts say the trial shows that the military junta still fears Aung San Suu Kyi’s influence over Burmese people, despite the fact she has been in detention for most of the past two decades.
They are keen to keep her detained in the run-up to the elections in 2010 – largely derided as a sham by the international community.
Foreign protests
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FROM THE BBC WORLD SERVICE
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Ms Suu Kyi’s prosecution is taking place in such haste and secrecy, and on such bizarre charges, that it has already been dismissed as farcical by many governments around the world.
Protests against the trial took place at outside Burmese embassies around the world on Monday.
US President Barack Obama formally extended sanctions against Burma on Friday.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Monday that the European Union should also consider toughening sanctions against the Burmese regime.
But so far there has been no official reaction from Burma’s two large neighbours, China and India, or the South East Asia regional group Asean, which counts Burma as a member.
MYANMAR DISSIDENTS: World leaders must move to free Suu Kyi
NST Online » Letters
2009/05/18
MYANMAR DISSIDENTS: World leaders must move to free Suu Kyi
By : ZAFAR AHMAD ABDUL GHANI, President Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organisation Malaysia
THE Myanmar Ethnic Rohingyas Human Rights Organisation Malaysia (Merhrom) strongly condemns the recent arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi by the military regime.
Her house arrest will be extended another five to seven years after an American sneaked into her house to meet her.
The military regime failed to take into account her health and her age when making the arrest. We had been looking forward to her release at the end of this month.
We had hoped the end of her house arrest would bring new hope for the people of Myanmar. But now she is being taken away from us again. We are losing hope for change in our country.
Therefore, we urge Asean countries, the US, European Union and international community to strongly protest the arrest of Suu Kyi. The support of the international community is crucial at this critical time.
We urge world leaders to act fast to bring about the release of Suu Kyi as it is an illegal arrest by an illegal government.
Burma’s Suu Kyi taken to prison
Burma’s Suu Kyi taken to prison |
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Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is to face trial for breaching the conditions of her detention under house arrest, her lawyers have said. Ms Suu Kyi will stand trial on 18 May, lawyer Hla Myo Myint told reporters. She was taken to a prison from her home in Rangoon, where she has spent most of the past 19 years, to hear the charges. A US man whose apparently uninvited visit to her home led to the charges, will also be tried on immigration and security offences, the lawyer added.
The American man, John Yettaw, was arrested after swimming across a lake to her house and staying there secretly for two days. The charges are yet to be confirmed by the government. But it looks as though this is a pretext to keep her detained until elections due in 2010 which the generals think will give them some legitimacy, says BBC South-East Asia correspondent Jonathan Head. Another of her lawyers said they would contest the charge. “The charge is going to be violating the conditions of her house arrest and what her lawyer is going to argue is that of course that’s ridiculous because, yes under the terms of her arrest she cannot invite people to visit her but she of course did not invite this person to visit her,” Jared Genser told the BBC. “If somebody shows up at her doorstep in violation of Burmese law she cannot be held responsible for it.” Meanwhile EU special envoy Piero Fassino said there was “no justification” for the detention, AFP news agency reported.
A spokesman for her National League for Democracy (NLD), Nyan Win said he had been informed of the plan to try Ms Suu Kyi and two women who live with her by her lawyer, who visited Ms Suu Kyi in her off-limits house on Wednesday. She was driven in a police convoy with the two aides from her house to the prison, eyewitnesses said. Reports say she was charged under the country’s Law Safeguarding the State from the Dangers of Subversive Elements, which carried a three-to-five-year jail term. Ms Suu Kyi’s main lawyer, Kyi Win, blamed Mr Yettaw for her detention, calling him a “fool”. The Burmese authorities have described the American as a 53-year-old Vietnam war veteran and resident of the state of Missouri.
Reports say security has been stepped up at the Insein jail, already a top security prison where a number of leading dissidents are incarcerated. The Nobel Peace laureate has been under house arrest for much of the past 19 years. The latest detention began in May 2003, after clashes between opposition activists and supporters of Burma’s (Myanmar) military government. The house arrest was extended last year – a move which analysts say is illegal even under the junta’s own legal limits. It is now due to expire at the end of May. Earlier this month, the government rejected an appeal for the 63-year-old to be freed, despite NLD claims that she was suffering from low blood pressure and dehydration. Her condition is said to have improved following a doctor’s visit this week and Kyi Win said she had told him her health was good and she was in good spirits. Ms Suu Kyi was detained after the NLD’s victory in a general election in 1990. Burma’s junta refused to allow the party to assume power. The military are planning to stage an election next year which they hope will give their rule a veneer of legitimacy, our correspondent says. |
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WITHDRAW ABSURD CHARGES AGAINST AUNG SAN SUU KYI – RELEASE IMMEDIATELY AND UNCONDITIONALLY ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS IN BURMA’ ,
Dear Editors,
It would be greatly appreciated if you could cause the following Joint Statement entitled ‘WITHDRAW ABSURD CHARGES AGAINST AUNG SAN SUU KYI – RELEASE IMMEDIATELY AND UNCONDITIONALLY ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS IN BURMA’ , w hich is now being issued by the 23 Malaysian organisations listed below, to be publiched in your publication.
In solidarity,
Charles Hector
Pranom Somwong(Bee)
H/P: 019-2371300
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Media Statement – 16/5/2009
WITHDRAW ABSURD CHARGES AGAINST AUNG SAN SUU KYI
RELEASE IMMEDIATELY AND UNCONDITIONALLY ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS IN BURMA
We, the undersigned, are shocked that Aung San Suu Kyi has now been absurdly charged for the offence of breaking the terms of her house arrest, in particular the condition that forbids visitors, after an American man, swam across the lake and entered her house uninvited and refused to leave.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her two assistants were reported to have been charged on 14/5/2009 with breach of detention under Section 22 of the Law Safeguarding the State from the Dangers of Subversive Elements, and their trial is scheduled to begin on Monday (18/5/2009) in an Insein Prison special court set up to handle political dissidents.
American, John William Yettaw, 53, of Falcon, Missouri swam across Inya Lake on the night of May 3 and left the compound early on the night of May 5, swimming a distance of about 2 kilometers. Authorities arrested him later that morning.
In Burma , it is also against the law for a foreigner to stay in the home of a Burmese citizen overnight without approval from authorities.
Dr. Tin Myo Win, Suu Kyi’s family physician, also will allegedly be charged in connection with Yettaw’s staying in Suu Kyi’s compound overnight. Yettaw himself is also expected to be charged, presumably for violating one of Burma ’s internal security laws.
Aung San Suu Kyi and her two assistants, have been taken from her home and is currently being detained in the infamous Insein Prison since 14/5/2009.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, 63, the leader of the National League for Democracy(NLD), has spent 13 of the past 19 years in virtual isolation in her home since the Burmese military junta refused to recognise NLD’s landslide victory in the country’s last elections in 1990.
The most recent, six-year period of detention is due to end on May 27. The junta’s justification for keeping her locked away under the provisions of this draconian 1975 national security law was to protect the state from “destructive elements”. Many speculate that this recent incident was created or being manipulated to discredit Suu Kyi and provide justification for the military government to extend her house arrest again.
We call for the immediate withdrawal of this absurd charge levied against Aung San Suu Kyi, and her 2 assistants;
We also call for the immediate and unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Burma ;
We call for ASEAN and ASEAN member governments, including Malaysia, to immediately intervene and urge the government of Burma to respect human rights, and to adhere to the numerous United Nations resolutions, including General Assembly Resolution 49/197 [1995], which, amongst others, “…call on the Government of Myanmar to release unconditionally and immediately the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who is now in her sixth year of detention without trial, and other political leaders and remaining political prisoners…’
We also call on the United Nations(UN), the European Union(EU) and all concerned nations to act for the immediate withdrawal of this absurd charge, to secure the immediate and unconditional release of all political detainees and to restore democracy and human rights to Burma and its peoples.
Charles Hector
Pranom Somwong
for and on behalf of the following 22 organisations,
All Women’s Action Society (AWAM)
Amnesty Malaysia
Burma Campaign , Malaysia
Civil Society Committee of LLG Cultural Development Centre (LLGCSC)
Coordination of Action Research on AIDS & Mobility (CARAM-ASIA )
Friends of Burma , Malaysia
MADPET (Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture)
Malaysia Youth and Student Democratic Movement (DEMA)
Migration Working Group (MWG)
Myanmar Refugee Volunteer Group (MRVG)
National Democratic Party for Human Rights (NDPHR-Exile) Malaysia
National Institute for Electoral Intergrity (NIEI)
Network of Action for Migrants in Malaysia (NAMM)
Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)
Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM)
Persatuan Masyarakat Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan (PERMAS), Malaysia
Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor (EMPOWER)
Pusat KOMAS
Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM)
Tenaganita
Workers Hub For Change (WH4C)
Writer Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI)
Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organization Malaysia (MERHROM)
PROTEST OF THE ARREST OF DAW AUNG SAN SUU KYI BY THE BURMA MILITARY REGIME.
PRESS STATEMENT
15th May 2009
Dear Chief Editor,
PROTEST OF THE ARREST OF DAW AUNG SAN SUU KYI BY THE BURMA MILITARY REGIME.
Myanmar Ethnic Rohingyas Human Rights Organization Malaysia (MERHROM) strongly condemns the recent arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi by the military regime. Her house arrest will be extended another 5-7 years after a journalist from the United States of America sneak into her house to interview her.
The military regime fail to take into account her health conditions as well as her age when making the arrest. We are looking forward for her release at the end of May 2009. We hope with the end of her house arrest, it will bring a new hope for the people of Burma. But now she was taken away from us again. We were losing hope for the change in our country.
Therefore we urge the ASEAN Countries, United States of America, European Union and International Community to strongly protest the arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The support from the International Community is very crucial and much needed at this critical time. The delay action will affect her health conditions and it can risk her live. If this happen, it will lead to a mass riot in Burma.
We urge to the world leaders to act fast to release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as it is an illegal arrest by the illegal government. Please act immediately to save her and the people of Burma.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Zafar Ahmad Abdul Ghani
President
Myanmar Ethnic Rohingya Human Rights Organization Malaysia (MERHROM)
Tel No: 016-6827287
Myanmar Ethnic Rohingyas Human Rights Organization Malaysia (MERHROM) 