News & Articles on Burma,Monday 27 July 2009
Jul 27th, 2009
Prison court extends Aung San Suu Kyi case by a day
Aung San Suu Kyi ‘preparing for worst’ as trial nears end
Energy Meeting in Mandalay
US Wants to Put Asean ‘Into Its Pocket’: Junta Media
Several Die in Kachin State’s Worst Dengue Fever Outbreak
Amnesty gives top honour to detained Myanmar democracy leader
Ceasefire army on watch list
Burma hears final arguments in Suu Kyi case
Myanmar to hold trade exhibition in Yangon next month
Suu Kyi to get Amnesty honour
Myanmar’s Suu Kyi Trial Nears End
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Prison court extends Aung San Suu Kyi case by a day (2nd Roundup)
Asia-Pacific News
Jul 27, 2009, 12:58 GMT
Yangon – A court in Yangon’s Insein Prison on Monday extended by a day the trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, her two aides and a US national who swam to her lakeside home three months ago.
Defence and prosecution lawyers presented their final arguments Monday in the case against Suu Kyi’s two housekeepers, Khin Win and Win Ma Ma, and John William Yettaw, who swam to Suu Kyi’s house-cum-prison on May 3 and stayed there until May 5.
At the end of the hearing, the court allowed the defence another hearing on Tuesday to permit it to present its answers to the prosecution’s arguments, defence lawyer Nyan Win said.
Final arguments for Suu Kyi’s case were already presented on Friday, but Nyan Win said he would attempt Tuesday to persuade the court to allow new witnesses for her case.
He said he intends to argue that since Suu Kyi was never officially under detention, according to the government’s wording, and had been kept in her Yangon house for six years for ’security reasons,’ she could not have broken the terms of her detention and, therefore, requires new witnesses to argue this point.
Nyan Win said he would also object to an article that appeared in a government-run newspaper Thursday that said Suu Kyi was guilty, which, he said, unfairly biased judges against her in the case.
Suu Kyi, who has been confined for 13 of the past 19 years, faces an additional five years of detention for breaching the terms of her house arrest after Yettaw’s intrusion.
Her housekeepers face similar charges for facilitating Yettaw’s uninvited visit, and Yettaw himself has been charged with violating the terms of his visa and swimming illegally in Yangon’s Inya Lake.
It was not yet known when the court would issue its verdicts in the four cases.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been accused of breaking the terms of her detention by allowing Yettaw to enter her compound without informing the authorities.
On Friday, the prison court heard her lead attorney, U Kyi Win, present the 30-page defence case that she was an innocent party to an intrusion that should have been prevented by her military guards.
Suu Kyi’s legal team has asked why the authorities did not respond to Suu Kyi’s earlier complaint when Yettaw first broke into her compound to try to contact her in November.
Critics of Myanmar’s military regime consider Yettaw’s intrusions an unintended gift to the junta, giving it an excuse to detain Suu Kyi after her previous six-year detention expired on May 27.
The military government is believed to want her confined until at least after elections planned for 2010.
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party won the 1990 general elections by a landslide but has been blocked from power by Myanmar’s junta for the past 19 years.
The new trial of Suu Kyi has sparked a chorus of protests from world leaders and even strongly worded statements from Myanmar’s regional allies in the Association of South-East Asian Nations.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton last week offered Myanmar improved relations if it released Suu Kyi, but there was no indication the junta would agree.
The New Light of Myanmar, a state-run newspaper, said Friday in an editorial that ‘demanding the release of Suu Kyi means showing reckless disregard for the law.’
http://www.monstersandcritics.
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Aung San Suu Kyi ‘preparing for worst’ as trial nears end
Justin McCurry
guardian.co.uk, Monday 27 July 2009 10.34 BST
Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese pro-democracy leader, is charged with breaking the terms of her house arrest. Photograph: Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/EPA
The trial of Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi entered its final phase today, with both sides expected to present closing arguments before a verdict is delivered in two to three weeks.
Aung San Suu Kyi is charged with breaking the terms of her house arrest by allowing an American man spend two nights at her home in early May. She faces up to five years in prison if found guilty.
John Yettaw, a Vietnam veteran who was described by his wife as eccentric, said he swam across a lake to her home because he wanted to warn her that she was about to be assassinated by “terrorists.”
Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been in detention for 14 of the past 20 years, pleaded with Yettaw to leave and relented only after he claimed to be too ill to swim back.
Reports said Yettaw’s lawyer was due to defend his client today against a trespassing charge, which carries a sentence of up to three months in prison.
Khin Maung Oo, said at the weekend he would attempt to win Yettaw, 53, a lenient sentence. “I will try my best to defend my client. I will argue that he did not violate the restriction order and I will try my utmost to get him lesser punishment,” he said.
Although the prosecution was expected to wind up its case against the Nobel prize winner today, her lawyer said a verdict was not imminent. “I expect all the arguments will be made today but I think the verdict might take as long as two or three weeks,” Nyan Win told Reuters.
Nyan Win said his client was “preparing for the worst” at the end of a trial that the junta’s critics have denounced as an excuse to keep Suu Kyi incarcerated during national elections next year.
Statements were expected from Aung San Suu Kyi’s longtime companions, Khin Khin Win and her daughter Win Ma Ma. The women, members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), also face up to five years in prison.
The NLD won a landslide victory in elections in 1990, but the ruling generals refused to recognise the result.
The junta has so far resisted international calls for Aung San Suu Kyi’s immediate release. Last week, the state-controlled media accused the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, of “interference” after she said a satisfactory conclusion to the trial could lead to better economic ties with Washington.
In demanding her release, western critics of the regime were showing “reckless disregard for the law”, the New Light of Myanmar newspaper said. “The court will hand down a reasonable term to her if she is found guilty, and it will release her if she is found not guilty,” it added.
Most of the trial has been conducted behind closed doors since it began on 18 May.
Diplomats have been allowed to witness four hearings, with observers from the US, Singapore, Australia, Japan, the Philippines and Malaysia reportedly granted access to this morning’s proceedings.
A diplomatic source said Aung San Suu Kyi, who is being held at Insein prison in the capital, Rangoon, had appeared “fit, healthy and in sparkling form” when she appeared in court last Friday.
The defence does not deny that Yettaw visited her compound, but argues that she cannot be charged under laws that were abolished in 1988. It blames her bodyguards for failing to apprehend Yettaw, who remained undetected inside the compound for several hours.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
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Energy Meeting in Mandalay
By The Irrawaddy Monday, July 27, 2009
Thailand’s Energy Minister Wannarat Charnnukul will emphasize his country’s strength as a regional hub of alternative energy at a meeting with energy ministers from Asian +3 and Asean +6 in Mandalay on July 29-30, according to a report in the Thailand-based news service The Nation on Monday.
Thailand will join the Asean energy action plan during 2010-2015, which highlights cooperation in seven areas including clean coal technology, the regional power transmission grid, gas pipelines, energy conservation, recycliable energy and nuclear power.
Minister Charnnukul also said that Thailand would also seek a bilateral talk with Burma on further cooperation in natural gas investment, according to the report.
According to a source close to the Thai ministry official, Thailand is concerned that Burma’s gas fields will be monopolized by Chinese state oil firms.
Thailand imports over 50 percent of Burma’s gas, which the French energy conglomerate Total extracts from the Yadana gas field in the Andaman Sea.
Total is one of the world’s six biggest so-called “supermajor” oil and energy companies and is the only large European business still operating in Burma.
In May, the French government said that if tougher trade curbs were introduced against Burma over the regime’s treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi, it would have damaging repercussions for one of France’s biggest companies and possibly for Southeast Asia.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner also warned that any pullout by Total would have a limited effect because Chinese state oil firms would be quick to move in.
The EU has urged Burma’s neighbors—notably China and India—to also threaten sanctions to persuade the regime to halt its political repression.
The 25 EU countries are barred from importing timber, minerals, gems and metals from Burma, and prohibited from exporting weapons and weapons-related equipment. Various restrictions on junta members are also in place.
However, both India and China continue to expand their business interests with the Burmese junta and supply it with weapons.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/
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US Wants to Put Asean ‘Into Its Pocket’: Junta Media
By ARKAR MOE Monday, July 27, 2009
A Burmese state-run newspaper on Sunday said that the United States is trying to sound out the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and “put it into its pocket.”
The New Light of Myanmar said in a news commentary that if Asean does what the US has asked, it will fall under the control of the US. It also criticized US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for urging Asean members to put pressure on the Burmese military government to enact democratic reforms.
Clinton, who attended the Asean Regional Forum last week in Thailand, called on the Burmese junta to release pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi and, as an incentive, hinted that such a move could help convince the current US administration to lift its investment sanctions on the military-ruled country.
Detained for nearly 14 of the last 20 years, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi is currently on trial for allegedly violating the terms of her house arrest and faces a possible five-year prison sentence.
The US foreign secretary also exerted pressure on Asean to expel Burma from the regional body if Suu Kyi was not released.
“In reality, her remarks amounted to interfering in the affairs of Asean,” reported The New Light of Myanmar. “If Asean does what the US secretary of state has asked, it will come under control of the US. This means the US is trying to sound the Asean out and put it into its pocket.”
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Monday, Thankin Chan Tun, a veteran Burmese politician, said, “It [the newspaper article] will not bring about anything good for the Burmese people. On the other hand, the US could put more sanctions on the country.
“In fact, Burma is a small country, so the military regime should try to be on good terms with other nations,” he added.
The commentary also suggested that US calls for Suu Kyi’s release were part of a long-term plan to place someone in power in Burma whom it can control.
“It shows that the Burmese military regime will do what they like and are not concerned about the international community,” said Han Thar Myint, a spokesperson for the opposition National League for Democracy, on Monday. “Moreover, it shows that they do not intend to release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.”
http://www.irrawaddy.org/
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Several Die in Kachin State’s Worst Dengue Fever Outbreak
By SAW YAN NAING Monday, July 27, 2009
An outbreak of dengue fever in Myitkyina, capital of Burma’s Kachin State, has claimed several lives, according to local residents.
Myitkyina’s public hospital wards are full of dengue patients and many residents are seeking medical attention in private clinics, local sources say. Most of the patients are children and elderly people.
“The situation is terrible,” said one local resident, Ma Grang.
Local hospitals and clinics are overburdened by the increasing number of cases, and Ma Grang said many patients waited in vain all day for treatment. The Kachin News Group reported that more then 120 children are being treated in a local hospital known as the “Children’s Ward.”
Hospital and clinic staff told The Irrawaddy they had no authority to give out information on the outbreak, which began in mid-June. No official death toll has been reported.
The Kachin News Group reported that a 16-year-old schoolgirl, Hkawng Naw, was among the recent victims,. She died on July 23.
Dengue fever outbreaks occur every year in Kachin State, but the current epidemic is the worst ever.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/
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Amnesty gives top honour to detained Myanmar democracy leader
Jul 27, 2009 07:41 AM
SHAWN POGATCHNIK
The Associated Press
DUBLIN – Myanmar’s democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, on Monday was named the recipient of Amnesty International’s highest honour, the Ambassador of Conscience Award. The human rights watchdog said it hoped this would help protect her as she faces a potential prison sentence.
Amnesty Secretary General Irene Khan said the award was timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of Suu Kyi’s initial arrest on July 20, 1989, as she led a campaign to oust Myanmar’s military dictators.
Suu Kyi’s opposition party, the National League for Democracy, won national elections in 1990 but the military refused to relinquish power. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 but has been under house arrest for 14 of the past 20 years.
“In those long and often dark years, Aung San Suu Kyi has remained a symbol of hope, courage and the undying defence of human rights,” Khan said.
Suu Kyi, 64, is on trial for allegedly harbouring an American who swam out to her residence uninvited. The offence of violating house-arrest rules carries a potential five-year prison sentence, and foreign diplomats have been barred from key parts of her trial. Suu Kyi’s supporters accuse Myanmar’s junta of seeking to put her behind bars until after elections planned for 2010.
Former Czech President Vaclav Havel, a fellow Nobel recipient and the first winner of the Ambassador of Conscience Award in 2003, said foreign recognition probably has deterred Myanmar’s rulers from imposing even harsher punishments on Suu Kyi.
“I know from my own experience that international attention can, to a certain extent, protect the unjustly persecuted from punishments that would otherwise be imposed. … Goodness knows what would have happened if her fate had not been highlighted as it is again today,” Havel said in a statement.
Irish band U2 is publicly announcing Suu Kyi’s award Monday night at a Dublin concert.
U2 – which won the top Amnesty honour in 2005 in recognition of singer Bono’s humanitarian work – has been honouring Suu Kyi at each performance of the band’s European tour. http://www.thestar.com/news/
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Ceasefire army on watch list
Monday, 27 July 2009 13:47 S.H.A.N.
The Military Affairs Security (MAS) branch in Lashio, capital of Northern Shan State, has been instructed to keep the Shan State Army (SSA) “North”, officially Shan State Special Region #3, under close watch, according to an informed source on the Sino-Burma border.
Its top leader Maj Gen Hso Ten has been serving 106 year jail sentence in Khamti, after his participation in the Shan State Day reception on 7 February 2005 in Taunggyi. “Other leaders from now on must watch their own steps,” he warned. “The junta needs only a misstep from them to dump them on trumped up charges.”
The SSA “North” is led by major generals Loi Mao, Gaifa and Pangfa. It has 3 brigades: the First with approximately 3,000 men, the Third with 500 and Seventh with 1,000. The United Wa State Army (UWSA) has called it “the closest ally outside the Peace and Democracy Front (PDF)”.
The PDF is made up of 4 members: UWSA, Kokang or Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), Mongla or National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State (NDAA) and New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K).
The SSA North’s units are positioned on the west bank of the Salween and any attack on the UWSA by the Burma Army coming from the west will have to negotiate stiff resistance by the SSA first.
It is also under suspicion of being hand in glove with the anti-Naypyitaw SSA “South” led by Col Yawdserk.
According to Network for Democracy and Development (NDD), 25 July 2009, 8 of the existing 13 ceasefire groups are against Naypyitaw’s plan to transform them into Border Guard Force (BGF) outwardly to be commanded by ceasefire officers but, to all intents and purposes, to be run by junta officers. http://www.shanland.org/index.
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Burma hears final arguments in Suu Kyi case
Writer: AFP
Published: 27/07/2009 at 01:59 PM
The internationally condemned trial of Burma democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi neared its climax Monday as lawyers for her two female aides gave their closing arguments at a prison court.
The internationally condemned trial of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, seen here, neared its climax Monday as prosecution lawyers prepared to give their final arguments at the prison court
The detained Nobel peace laureate, 64, faces five years in jail on charges of violating her house arrest over a bizarre incident in which an American man, John Yettaw, swam uninvited to her lakeside home in Rangoon in May.
Her lawyers gave final statements on Friday, and on Monday lawyers spoke for Khin Khin Win and Win Ma Ma, two assistants who lived with her at the property and face similar charges, a Burma official said.
Yettaw’s lawyers are set to deliver closing arguments later Monday to the court at Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison — where all four defendants are being held — followed by the prosecution, the official said.
Nyan Win, one of Suu Kyi’s lawyers, said that Suu Kyi’s legal team were then expected to have a chance to reply after that but that it could be “two or three weeks” until a verdict comes.
Diplomats from the United States, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia and the Philippines were allowed to attend Monday’s hearing. Most of the trial has taken place behind closed doors.
The trial has unleashed a storm of international outrage, with critics saying Burma’s ruling junta is using the charges as an excuse to keep Suu Kyi locked up for elections promised by the regime next year.
Her trial began just days before the latest period of her house arrest was due to expire. She has spent most of the last two decades in detention since the junta refused to recognise her party’s victory in elections in 1990.
Burma’s state media Sunday hit back at US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who called for Suu Kyi’s release at when she appeared at Asia’s biggest security forum last week, held in Thailand.
Clinton had warned that Burma was possibly receiving nuclear technology from North Korea, although she also held out the carrot of increased US investment if it frees the opposition leader.
“This is really interfering with Asean’s (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) internal affairs,” said the state-run Myanma Ahlin newspaper.
“If Asean obeys the United States Secretary of State, Asean will be under the United States’ influence,” the comment piece said.
Nyan Win, also a spokesman for Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, said Friday that the legal team welcomed calls for her release from foreign ministers at the Thailand meeting.
He said the opposition leader’s main lawyer, Kyi Win, read out a 30-page final statement at the trial on Friday and her legal team was “satisfied” with their arguments.
But he said that Suu Kyi was displeased that the prosecution was effectively getting extra time to prepare its arguments.
Both Suu Kyi and her lawyers have previously accused the court of bias. The prosecution was allowed to call 14 witnesses while she was allowed only two, and one of those only after an appeal to the Supreme Court.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/
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Myanmar to hold trade exhibition in Yangon next month
www.chinaview.cn 2009-07-27 16:56:54 Print
YANGON, July 27 (Xinhua) — Myanmar will hold a trade exhibition next month in the former capital of Yangon to boost external and domestic trade, exhibition sources said on Monday.
The four-day 2009 Yangon Expo with 180 booths is scheduled to run from Aug. 20 to 23 at the Tamadaw Hall in the city.
Industrial products, consumers goods, food, cosmetic, electrical goods, furniture housing show, zone car, agricultural and fishery machinery, as well as services relating to education and health will be introduced in the exhibition, they said.
It will be the second of its kinds, and the first one was held in March this year.
Meanwhile, traders of different business sectors from the country will participate in the forthcoming Nanning Trade Fair in China to seek trade promotion between Myanmar and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China.
The 6th Nanning Trade Fair, which runs for five days from Oct. 20 to 24, will showcase Myanmar products in 100 booths.
In a bid to boost the business cooperation with ASEAN member countries and South Korea, the country’s foodstuff companies will also attend the ASEAN food and beverages exhibition 2009 in South Korea in November this year.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
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Suu Kyi to get Amnesty honour
Last Updated : 2009-07-27 5:12 AM
AFP
DUBLIN: Detained Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was to be awarded human rights group Amnesty International’s highest honour Monday, during a concert by Irish rock band U2, Amnesty said.
The Nobel peace laureate — whose trial in Yangon on charges of violating the terms of her house arrest is coming to an end — will be named Amnesty’s ambassador of conscience for 2009.
The largely symbolic honour has previously been awarded to the likes of South African former president Nelson Mandela and ex-Czech president Vaclav Havel.
It was to be announced by U2’s singer Bono during a concert by the band in Dublin later Monday, Amnesty said. U2 have also previously won the award.
“This month marks the 20th anniversary of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s arrest and 20 years since Amnesty International declared her a prisoner of conscience,” said Amnesty’s secretary general Irene Khan.
“In those long and often dark years, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has remained a symbol of hope, courage and the undying defence of human rights, not only to the people of Myanmar but to people around the world.”
Suu Kyi faces five years in jail if found guilty over a bizarre incident in which a man from the US swam uninvited to her lakeside home in Yangon in May.
Her trial began just days before the latest period of her house arrest was due to expire. She has spent most of the last two decades in detention since the junta refused to recognise her party’s victory in 1990 elections.
http://www.thehimalayantimes.
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Myanmar’s Suu Kyi Trial Nears End
Associated Press
YANGON — The trial of Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi entered its final phase Monday, with the prosecution scheduled to deliver its closing arguments, a government official said.
Suu Kyi, 64, is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest by harboring an uninvited American man who swam to the Nobel Peace Prize laureate’s lakeside home and stayed for two days. She faces a possible five years in prison.
Suu Kyi’s lawyer Nyan Win said he expected the verdict to be delivered in two to three weeks.
The government official, who demanded anonymity since he was not authorized to speak to the press, said the lawyer for American John W. Yettaw, 53, of Falcon, Missouri, gave his final arguments. Two female companions of Suu Kyi presented statements before the court.
Diplomats from the United States, Singapore, Australia, Japan, the Philippines and Malaysia were allowed to attend the morning session but not the key afternoon one where the prosecution’s arguments were to be heard, one of the diplomats told reporters.
However, authorities allowed U.S. Consul Colin Furst to be present in the afternoon because an American was standing trial.
Yettaw is also charged with violating terms of Suu Kyi’s house arrest as an abettor and could be sent to jail for five years. He also faces a municipal charge of swimming in a non-swimming area and is accused of immigration violations.
Yettaw’s lawyer will argue that the American only committed criminal trespass, since he entered house late at night. That charge carries a maximum jail term of three months.
Yettaw has pleaded not guilty and explained in court that he had a dream that Suu Kyi would be assassinated and he had gone to warn her.
“I will try my best to defend my client. I will argue that he did not violate the restriction order and I will try my utmost to get him lesser punishment,” Khin Maung Oo, Yettaw’s lawyer, said over the weekend.
Tried on the same charges as Suu Kyi are Khin Khin Win and her daughter Win Ma Ma, who have long been Suu Kyi’s companions during her house arrest. Both are members of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party.
The trial has drawn condemnation from the international community and Suu Kyi’s local supporters, who worry the ruling junta has found an excuse to keep her behind bars through elections planned for next year.
At an Asia-Pacific security forum last week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton offered Myanmar the prospect of better relations with the United States, but said that depended in part on the fate of Suu Kyi.
Myanmar state media rejected the criticism, accusing Clinton and others calling for Suu Kyi’s release of “interference.”
The trial started May 18. The court had approved 23 prosecution witnesses, of which 14 took the stand. Only two out of four defense witnesses were allowed.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been under military rule since 1962.
Suu Kyi’s opposition party won national elections in 1990, but Myanmar’s generals refused to relinquish power. Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for 14 of the past 20 years.
Copyright © 2009 Associated Press http://online.wsj.com/article/
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