A small step...but in the right direction...
From VOA:
A Burmese court has agreed to hear an appeal from detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi against her criminal conviction last month for violating her house arrest.
Her lawyer, Nyan Win, said Friday that Rangoon's Division Court will hear the appeal on September 18. He said he was satisfied with the court's decision to hear the appeal.
The Nobel Peace laureate was convicted August 11 of violating state security laws after giving shelter to American man who swam to her lakeside Rangoon home uninvited in May. She was sentenced to 18 months house detention.
Kyi Win says the appeal will focus on the fact that her conviction is based on the 1974 state constitution, which is no longer in effect.
The verdict was condemned by the international community. Burma's ruling military junta was accused of using the trial as an excuse to keep her out of next year's elections.
John Yettaw says he swam to Aung San Suu Kyi's home to warn her about an attempt on her life. He was sentenced to seven years of hard labor, but was released by Burma's military junta last month after a visit from U.S. Senator Jim Webb.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been in some form of detention for 14 of the past 20 years.
Click here to continue reading.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Burmese Court Agrees to Aung San Suu Kyi Appeal
Monday, August 17, 2009
Burma's Karen unable to return home
More than 4,000 ethnic Karen in eastern Burma have fled to Thailand after renewed fighting between Burmese government forces and Karen rebels.
Many of those who have fled over the past week were living at the Ler Per Her camp for internally displaced people in Burma - and had already left their home villages.
Rainbow, who is the secretary of the camp and the headmaster of the school there, told the BBC News website about what is forcing the Karen to flee and the difficult circumstances they now face:
Last week government troops attacked our camp. They were shelling every day. The fighting between the Burmese army and the Karen rebels was taking place close to the camp. It became a dangerous place. So we decided to leave. There were 1,264 people living in the camp. Since October 2008 we've had about 300 new arrivals.
The Democratic Karen Buddhist Amy (DKBA) [allied to the Burmese army] have been trying to force people in the area to join them in the last few months.
Click here to continue reading.Burma deports Suu Kyi US 'guest'
From the BBC:
The US man jailed for visiting Burma's detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been released and deported.
John Yettaw, whose health is described as fragile, left Burma on a plane with visiting US Senator Jim Webb, who negotiated the deal on Saturday.
Mr Webb was the most senior US official to meet the Burmese leader. He also met pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Mr Yettaw was jailed for seven years over the visit and Ms Suu Kyi was given an additional 18 months' house arrest.
Mr Yettaw flew with Senator Webb to Bangkok, where he was taken to hospital in a US embassy van.
Senator Webb told reporters 53-year-old Mr Yettaw was "not a well man".
"He had a medical incident this morning when they read him his orders of deportation," the senator told reporters at Bangkok airport.
"He's now undergoing a thorough medical review here in a hospital, and soon he will be able to return to his family."
His wife, Betty, told the BBC on Saturday she was happy to hear the "wonderful" news that he would be released.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Welcome to the golden land of Myanmar...
And it's propaganda.
| Senior General Than Shwe sends message of congratulations to Iranian President |
NAY PYI TAW, 1 July - Senior General Than Shwe, Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council of the Union of Myanmar, has sent a message of congratulations to His Excellency Mr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on his re-election as the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran on 12 June, 2009.[ more + ] |
Monday, May 25, 2009
Just rumors?
I just read an AP article that Aung San Suu Kyi was supposed to be released the week she was then charged with violating her house arrest terms (Background: American John Yettaw swam across the lake to Suu Kyi's house uninvited and didn't leave when asked to).
Here is the article to check out.
I find Brig. Gen Myint Thein's statement about her release pretty unlikely and just a cover-up to calm Myanmar's partnering countries, who think that the reputation of the government, since Suu Kyi's arrest and trial, is at stake
Friday, May 15, 2009
Aung San Suu Kyi arrested
This is atrocious.
From our friends at the Burma Campaign UK:
Dear Friend,
Yesterday Burma’s democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested by the regime and moved to Burma’s notorious Insein prison. It appears she will face trial for breaking the terms of her house arrest which forbids visitors, after an American man, John Yettaw, swam across Inya Lake and refused to leave her house.
Aung San Suu Kyi has committed no crime, she is the victim of a crime. There was an intruder in her house who refused to leave, yet she is the one being imprisoned.
HELP AUNG SAN SUU KYI - TAKE ACTION NOW
The United Nations and ASEAN must dispatch envoys to Burma to demand the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all Burma’s political prisoners.
Please go to this page where you can email the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon and ASEAN leaders to urge them to send envoys immediately. http://www.burmacampaign.o
As you know Burma’s generals will use any excuse to keep Aung San Suu Kyi detained. If strong action isn’t taken, Aung San Suu Kyi could face the rest of her life in jail.
Please take action now. Aung San Suu Kyi could now spend the rest of her life in jail. http://www.burmacampaign.o
One year later...
And Cyclone Nargis is forgotten, Burma is out-of-mind.
On May 2 last year, Nargis Cyclone destroyed everything in its path in the south of Myanmar. It left behind 140,000 dead and missing, as well as immense damage. To help those who survived cope with their grief and suffering, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams have been providing mental health support to populations in the Irrawaddy delta for the past 10 months.
One year after cyclone Nargis massively damaged the Irrawaddy delta, reconstruction work is in process, thanks to the efforts of many national and international agencies. After the first emergency phase ended, emphasis is now put on rebuilding shelters and restoring livelihoods, especially agriculture and fishing. It will still take many years until the situation gets back to normal in the mostly rural areas that compose the southern tip of Myanmar.
No more dead bodies are floating in the river branches that plunge into the Andaman Sea, but the memories of the dreadful event that cost the lives of 140,000 people last year still haunt the two million people who survived and lost their loved ones. To alleviate this suffering, MSF has been providing mental health support to populations in the delta for the past 10 months.