Myanmar's Suu Kyi charged over US intruder

[PeteC]

This guy must be an idiot. Probably well intentioned but very much misinformed. He may have signed her death warrant, as she won't survive 5 years in prison. The junta has been looking for an excuse, and this man has now given them one. Pete

__________________________
YANGON (AFP) – Myanmar's military junta charged pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi with breaching the terms of her house arrest after a US man swam across a lake and hid inside her home, her lawyer said.
The 63-year-old will go on trial on Monday on the charges, which carry a maximum jail term of five years and would stretch her detention past its supposed expiry date this month and through elections that are due in 2010.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate and her two maids appeared in court at the notorious Insein Prison near Yangon, hours after police whisked her away from the residence where she has been detained for most of the past two decades.
"The authorities have charged Aung San Suu Kyi and her two maids" under the Law Safeguarding the State from the Dangers of Subversive Elements, one of her lawyers, Hla Myo Myint, told reporters outside the prison.
US national John Yettaw, who was detained last week for sneaking into her off-limits house and staying there for two days before he was caught, was also charged with violating the security law and immigration conditions, he said.
Aung San Suu Kyi, whose health has been fragile in recent days, would not be allowed to return home but would be held at a special house on the grounds of the prison while proceedings were under way, said her main lawyer Kyi Win.
He pinned the blame on Yettaw -- whom authorities in Yangon have described as a 53-year-old Vietnam War veteran -- saying that Aung San Suu Kyi had asked him to leave her house.
"We have to blame him," Kyi Win said. "He is a fool."
Kyi Win said before the court hearing that Aung San Suu Kyi "wanted to say her health situation is good and that she is in good spirits."
All those charged face jail terms of between three and five years under the security law, Hla Myo Myint said.
Aung San Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the past 19 years in virtual isolation in her home since the junta refused to recognise her National League for Democracy party's landslide victory in the country's last elections in 1990.
The Oxford-educated daughter of the country's founding father General Aung San, she lives with her maids and is allowed to see only her lawyers and medical staff, with the occasional visit from UN representatives.
Her most recent six-year period of detention is due to end on May 27 but diplomats said the junta was keen to keep her locked up ahead of elections that it has promised in 2010 as part of its "roadmap to democracy".
"They have an excuse," a western diplomat based in Yangon said, referring to the latest charges.
Aung Din, executive director of the US Campaign for Burma, said it was the "cunning plan of the regime -- to put Aung San Suu Kyi in continuous detention beyond the six years allowed by the law they used to justify the detention."
Her party said at the weekend that she was in poor health and called for her to be given urgent medical assistance after her doctor was taken in for questioning over the incident with the American. He remains in detention.
She was unable to eat and put on an intravenous drip twice in the past week, suffering from dehydration and low blood pressure.
In Washington, which has imposed strict sanctions on the country formerly known as Burma, the US State Department said that Myanmar authorities had allowed a US diplomat to visit Yettaw on Wednesday.
State media said that Yettaw had confessed to arriving in Yangon on a tourist visa on May 2.
The government mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar newspaper published a body-length photo of Yettaw Thursday, along with a biography saying he is married with a doctorate in psychology and lives in Missouri.
An editorial in the paper said Myanmar needed a "strong and upright" judiciary that would "pass appropriate sentences to those who jeopardise national unity and development."

[hhfarang]

Yeah, good thing they had an idiot to use as a pawn. I'm sure they would have come up with some way to keep her detained anyway. He just made it easier for them.

[PeteC]

Go to the Guardian page

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/ma ... wim-yettaw

They have a photo of this character. Now my suspicious mind is thinking he gains to benefit from this and it's all been a set up. I bet anything about him disappears from the news in due course, with little pressure from the US to help him.

You allude to this HH. Perhaps a 'pawn' in another or both senses. Pete

[hhfarang]

I can't believe what this junta is allowed to get away with, not just with Aung San Suu Kyi but all the other injustices they are credited with. Where's the U.N.? Where are all the human rights groups? Where are all those voices for women and the downtrodden ... but I'm just an American and we always get in trouble when we stick our noses in other countries business, no matter how right or wrong it is...

[PeteC]

I can't believe what this junta is allowed to get away with, not just with Aung San Suu Kyi but all the other injustices they are credited with. Where's the U.N.? Where are all the human rights groups? Where are all those voices for women and the downtrodden ... but I'm just an American and we always get in trouble when we stick our noses in other countries business, no matter how right or wrong it is...

No, you're right. I think obvious that the US leaves the thunder mostly up to the UK as Burma belonged to them. Britain and the US are of course partners in most everything, but it's their turf so to speak. Similar, when things went bad with the Philippines, as an example, a few decades ago, it was our mess and other powers didn't harp too much about things.

However, it would be better if there was a strong and concerted effort by everyone.

Another however, I read this week that believe it or not.... China, India, SINGAPORE and ISRAEL are the major weapons suppliers to the Burma junta. For the two in CAPS, I imagine most of what they sell to Burma are re-sales from what they buy from the USA.

It's a tangled web like most of the world these days. It's not hard to say Burma is the Africa of Asia as far as most of the world is concerned. Pete

[PeteC]

Fyi, here is commentary from a western person in and out of Burma on a regular basis. I omit most names but these are his words.
_________________
".....broken right hand, so forgive typing. an excellent and truthful article -- for a change. and lintner is indeed an expert. lives in cm and been traveling burma since 70s.

what's been happening the past 1 1/2 years:

burma's been mapped via satelite. the ethnic leaders met at safe house in cm and ageed on the borders. the shan and pa-o finally settled differences on land settlement in shan state.
ethnics agreed to adopt constitution that prof david williams wrote for them.
agreed to form a federation.
agreed to form a composit army, kind of like UN.
the usa flew foreign ministers from major ethnics to the pentagon about 1 1/2 year ago.

abel tuay (tweed to westerners), the vp of karennie state is excited. expecting a kareeie homeland once again. sorry, but nothing will change. burma will still be ruled by the spdc and ethnics will still be fighting for their homelands.

china, india, singapore, and israel supply vast amounts of arms and training to spdc. china specifically wants to keep their somewhat proxy govt in place. the upper north east 1/4 of shan state is now home to chinese and their businesses. most signs are in chinese.

china plans massive road construction from china through burma to the sea in order to control straights of malacca. they will not give up that strategic point. pipeline to india is news to me. but shows another reason why china will want to keep a strong spdc in burma.

what will usa do. nothing. won't risk war with china since our military and economic resources have been squandered in the me -- just hope we don't go into iran. i feel bad for the ethnics. there are some french and a couple of americans and a japanese (that I know of) training and fighting with the karen. these guys are ex military and freelance with no govt sanction. there is an additional guy, who does medical and rescue work. he is sanctioned.

These ethnics could kick ass if they were properly armed, put aside centuries of differences, and struck to the agreement of having a composit army, but it won't happen. now china is the big dog. our foreign policy saw to that.

as to arms sales along the border and to ethnics, even though i have a good relationship with the ethnics, they, thank god, don't tell me anything about that. heard rumors but the amount of arms are insignificant. the wa are best armed because they have a lot of drug money. they buy illegally from private chinese and east block dealers.

drugs are, unfortunately, once again on the rise in order to make money for the armies. as you put it, this has been the way of the northern border for years.

that's all i know. it's kind of depressing, so i'm beginning to get out of the loop by begging off on attending the ethnic's meetings. they are all so positive the usa will help them. I know we can't.

good luck, ps. the ngo lady pushing the human zoo stories has closed the educational project at nai soy karennie village. like a good neocolonialist she kept intruding on their culture and trying to change them. they begain resisting, so she "took her football and went home." she is still in the camp and other karennie villages, thought. only a matter of time before she gets deported."

[Sabai Jai]

Lost for words really...

The 'New World Order' or 'Obama Era' doesn't seem to have materialised.

Ok - I'm not that naive but I'm sure I am not the only one who appreciates the Quality and Potential of this Great Lady as a Leader in this sadly down-trodden nation.

I very sincerely hope that people of influence and conscience are acting behind the scenes to help - and if they are not - God help us all!

Please spare a thought, word, prayer or deed for the well being of Suu Kyi. She has shown the strength of several Lions for many years now – but i feel she is as vulnerable as rare and beautiful Butterfly at the moment.

Best Wishes
Sabai Jai

[PeteC]

.....I very sincerely hope that people of influence and conscience are acting behind the scenes to help - and if they are not - God help us all! Best Wishes Sabai Jai

Better words never spoken. Pete

[Khundon1975]

Aung san suu kyi will never be allowed to form a government in Burma, no matter how much outside pressure is put on the Generals in power there.
China is the key and they are quite happy with the status quo, even more so, now that the Olympics are done and dusted.

The Burmese generals know that once she is in power, they will lose complete control over the population, a position that they would never recover from.

What was that idiot US vet thinking, when he swam across the lake to her house?. Now the generals have the excuse they have been waiting for, to incarcerate her for 6 years.
That will take them well past the elections they promised in 2010.

Much of the population of Burma are nothing more than slaves and to a slave, there is no dawn, just dark, terrible night.

[PeteC]

The guy is a nutter, or a very good actor. Pete
________________________
YANGON (Reuters) – The American man at the center of the trial against Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has said he swam to her house after having a vision that her life was in danger, Suu Kyi's lawyers said on Thursday.
It is the first indication of Yettaw's motives for the stunt that could see Suu Kyi jailed for up to five years if she is found guilty of breaking the terms of her house arrest.
Nyan Win, a spokesman for Suu Kyi's party and a member of her defense team, said Yettaw made the comment as the court heard testimony on Tuesday from a police officer who questioned him.
"Do you remember that I told you at the interrogation that I had a vision that her life would be in danger?" Yettaw told his lawyer to ask the officer. The court refused to allow the question.
"I had come to Myanmar to warn Myanmar authorities and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi against that danger," Nyan Win quoted Yettaw as saying.
The 53-year-old American, who state media said used homemade flippers and flotation devices to swim to Suu Kyi's home on May 4, did not discuss his motives in a meeting with U.S. diplomats after his arrest.
He is charged with immigration violations, trespassing into a restricted area and violating a security law protecting the state from "those desiring to cause subversive acts."
Suu Kyi and two female assistants who also live in her home were charged under the same draconian security law a week ago.
Her lawyers say she did not invite Yettaw and should not be held responsible for the actions of a troubled man.
"OUTRAGEOUS" TRIAL
Diplomats were again barred from the special court at Insein Central Prison on Thursday, a day after they were allowed inside in a rare concession to growing international outrage at the regime.
"We are happy that the Myanmar authorities let our people see Daw Suu Kyi, but it's not the end," Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said in Bangkok.
"Our main objective is the release of all political prisoners that will lead to national reconciliation," he said.
Critics say the "scripted" trial is aimed at silencing the charismatic leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) until after a multi-party election in the former Burma in 2010.
Her current detention order expires on May 27 after a spell of six years.
She appeared healthy and confident during the 45-minute hearing on Wednesday attended by 29 diplomats and 10 Burmese journalists. She said she hoped to see them "in better days."
State-run MRTV broadcast footage of her talks after the hearing with diplomats from Thailand, Singapore and Russia.
Singapore ambassador Robert Chua said she told them national reconciliation was still possible "if all parties so wished" and "it was not too late for something good to come out of this unfortunate incident."
In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the upcoming election would be illegitimate because of the treatment of the charismatic leader of the National League for Democracy.
"It is outrageous that they are trying her and that they continue to hold her because of her political popularity," Clinton told a congressional hearing.
"It's our hope that this baseless trial will end with a quick release of her and ... a return to some political involvement, eventually, by her and her party," she added.
Suu Kyi has been detained for more than 13 of the past 19 years, most of them at her home in Yangon, guarded by police, her mail intercepted and visitors restricted.
Despite the tight security at her home, authorities say Yettaw, who according to media reports suffers from asthma, swam across Inya Lake and sneaked inside the compound.
Police said Suu Kyi and her companions violated the terms of her house arrest by allowing him to stay there for two days.
Her lawyers argue no law was broken because she did not invite Yettaw. They say she told him to leave, but he refused and Suu Kyi did not report him for fear he would get into trouble.
At Wednesday's hearing, police captain Tin Zaw Tun said he had found several items left at Suu Kyi's home by Yettaw, who had first tried to meet her on November 30, when she refused to see him.
The items included two black chadors, the robes worn by Muslim women in public, two black scarves, two long skirts, swimming goggles and some books, the captain said in a report by the state-owned New Light of Myanmar.
"Asked why Mr. John William Yettaw left two chadors, she replied that he left them as gifts for her," the report said.

[PeteC]

Why doesn't this surprise me. Pete
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YANGON (Reuters) – A Myanmar court rejected most of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's witnesses on Wednesday, a move critics said was aimed at sabotaging her defense in a trial that could see her detained for five more years.
The court allowed only one of four witnesses requested by her defense team, advocate Kyi Win, who will testify on Thursday when the trial resumes of a woman detained by military rulers for more than 13 of the past 19 years.
"It is very unfair," Nyan Win, one of Suu Kyi's lawyers, said after the closed session inside Yangon's Insein prison.
Critics say the trial is a charade to keep the charismatic National League for Democracy (NLD) leader in detention during an election next year that they say will entrench the generals' power after nearly a half century of military rule.
The court barred senior NLD member Win Tin, the party's vice-chairman Tin Oo, who has been under house arrest since 2003, and another lawyer from acting as defense witnesses.
It gave no reason. By comparison, prosecutors were allowed 23 witnesses, but called only 14.
"If the trial goes this quickly, we can expect a verdict on Friday," Nyan Win said.
Suu Kyi, 63, is accused of breaking the terms of her house arrest by allowing an uninvited American intruder to stay for two days after he swam across a small lake to her home in the capital on May 4.
State-run MRTV television said on Wednesday the case against Suu Kyi would follow the "rule of law."
Activists say a guilty verdict is inevitable in a country where more than 2,000 political prisoners are behind bars and courts routinely bend the law to the suit the generals.
"It has been clear from the beginning that Aung San Suu Kyi would never get a fair trial," said Debbie Stothard of the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma. Many organizations critical of the military rulers refer to Myanmar by its old name, Burma.
Suu Kyi has denied the charges and blamed the incident at her home on a security breach for which no officials were punished.
"The fact that I am the only party being prosecuted shows the partiality of the prosecution. I hereby submit my statement that I do not violate any crime as charged," she said in a written statement to the court which was released by the NLD.
"GOD SENT ME"
Earlier, about 250 NLD members gathered at the party's dilapidated headquarters to free birds and pray for her.
"We call for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners," NLD member U Ohn Kyaing told the crowd as secret police watched nearby, cameras clicking.
Wednesday was the anniversary of the NLD's landslide election victory in 1990, which the generals ignored. It was also the sixth year of Suu Kyi's latest spell in detention.
Her house arrest was lifted on Tuesday, but she remains in prison while awaiting a verdict.
Suu Kyi has spent much of the last two decades in some form of detention, mostly at her lakeside home under police guard, her phone line cut and visitors restricted.
Myanmar's generals, the latest in an unbroken line of military rulers since 1962, have ignored the international outcry over her trial or sought to defuse it by twice allowing diplomats in as observers.
The American intruder, John Yettaw, whose swim across Inya Lake triggered the trial, testified for three hours on Wednesday.
He said he had a "vision" that Suu Kyi was assassinated by "terrorists" and he wanted to warn her and the government.
"God sent me to warn her," Nyan Win quoted him as saying.
Suu Kyi has denied any prior knowledge of his plans and said she did not alert authorities for fear he would be arrested.
"My political colleagues are serving long prison terms without any consideration or protection from the law. I allowed him to take temporary refuge in my political belief that I will not push anyone into custody," her statement said.
"It does not matter who are the intruders or whatever their motive, I just did it out of my political belief."
Yettaw, labeled a "crazy guy" by Burmese exiles, is charged with immigration violations, illegal swimming and breaking a security law that protects the state from "subversive elements."
Suu Kyi's two female housemates, Daw Khin Khin Win and Ma Win Ma Ma, are charged under the same security law.

[lomuamart]

Well, the trial's over and I suppose that Suu Kyi got off fairly leniently bearing in mind how harsh the sentence could have been. (BTW, I'm not condoning anything, just saying that a few more years in prison would have been a lot worse).
I note that the nutty American got 7 years, including 4 of hard labour. One of the offences was "swimming in a non-swimming area"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/au ... kyi-guilty

[Sabai Jai]

I suppose most people expected a similar outcome - a vicious regime composed of paranoid lunatics is hardly likely to come up with anything better and as Lomu points out - could have been worse.

Sad though isn’t it?

Regards Sabai Jai

[stgrhe]

The sentence, i.e. the prolonged house arrest, for Suu Kyi has been halved and thus reduced to 18 months. Apparently the military wants her to be out of the way for next years' general election.

G.

[Khundon1975]

Typical of the Burmese evil generals.

They just want to control all of the country and get the money from the drugs and oil in Myanmar.

They will never allow her to take up the leadership post, that she won fair and square.