Two US Senators Call for ‘Reform-minded’ Junta Leaders

By LALIT K JHA
The Irrawaddy News

WASHINGTON—Two powerful US lawmakers, one from the ruling Democratic party and one from the opposition Republicans, have urged Burmese generals to challenge the current authoritarian rule of Snr-Gen Than Shwe in Burma.

In a statement issued by Sen John Kerry and his Republican counterpart Sen Richard Lugar, both leaders of the powerful foreign affairs committee, they called for “reform-minded” leaders in the military junta to step forward.

Kerry is chairman of the committee, and Lugar is its ranking member. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee plays a key role in shaping US foreign policy.

“Now is the time for reform-minded leaders within the military junta to step forward and be heard,” said the statement. “Releasing Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners would signal the start of a constructive dialogue with the United States.”

Sources in Naypyidaw said that the junta’s top leaders noticed the lawmakers’ appeal, but one informed source said that any reformed-minded military leaders would need greater assurance and the full backing from the international community and the US to part ways with Than Shwe and other hardliners.

Observing that the Obama administration and Congress are reviewing America’s policy toward Burma, the two Senators said: “At this critical time, some in the junta are trying to leverage the recent alleged unauthorized entry into Aung San Suu Kyi’s compound to extend her detention.”

This action, they said: “sends precisely the wrong message to the citizens of Burma, the people of Southeast Asia, and all those in the global community who seek for the Burmese people the opportunity to live in a country where universal human rights are respected, not trampled.”

Both Kerry and Lugar are close confidants of Obama in matters of US foreign policy. Despite being a Republican, Lugar at one point was considered for the post of secretary of state in the Obama administration, the post that ultimately went to Hillary Clinton.

Obama’s rise to national fame started when Kerry, then the Democratic presidential nominee, gave him the opportunity in 2004 to address the Democratic National Convention; the speech made Obama a household name in the US overnight.

Meanwhile, US lawmakers continued to issue statements deploring the junta’s decision to charge Aung San Suu Kyi and hold her in Insein Prison in Rangoon.

“Her transfer from house arrest to prison to face criminal charges is a serious matter that deserves the strongest condemnation from the world's democracies—and from regional neighbors, including Thailand and China," said Sen Judd Gregg.

"The only thing criminal about Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been the abusive injustices she and her supporters have suffered under the State Peace and Development Council,” he said.

Rep Dana Rohrabacher said, “It has long since passed when the military dictators of Burma should have stepped aside and allowed a more honest and efficient government democratically chosen by the people of Burma.”

“Nothing undermines the legitimacy of the upcoming elections more than this type of maneuver against Aung San Suu Kyi by the military junta," said the lawmaker.

READ MORE---> Two US Senators Call for ‘Reform-minded’ Junta Leaders...

Two Suu Kyi Lawyers Dismissed from Bar

Khin Maung Shein (left), Aung Thein (Photo: AAPP)

By MIN LWIN AND AP
The Irrawaddy News

Two of Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyers, Aung Thein and Khin Maung Shein, were dismissed from the country’s bar by the Burmese military on Friday.

“Township magistrate officer U Aung Soe and some local authorities came and gave an order in which we are dismissed from the Burmese lawyer’s list,” Aung Thein told The Irrawaddy on Saturday.

Attorney Aung Thein confirmed on Saturday that he had been dismissed on Friday, a day after he had applied to represent Suu Kyi in her latest trial, which is set to begin on Monday.

Aung Thein has defended political activists in the past and was recently jailed for four months for contempt of court because of his strong advocacy on his clients’ behalf.

“The dismissal is not fair to us,” Aung Thein said. “We have served four months (in detention for contempt to the court).”

In November, Aung Thein and his close associate Khin Maung Shein were both sentenced to four months imprisonment for contempt of court. The authorities were prejudiced against lawyers who have defended political activists, said Aung Thein.

Their past clients include the prominent Buddhist monk Gambira, who was sentenced to prison following his leadership of the “Saffron Uprising” in 2007. Aung Thein ultimately resigned from that case, complaining that he was had not been allowed to prepare a proper defense.

U Aung Thein is a lawyer associated with Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy’s (NLD) legal advisory team.

On Thursday, authorities barred Aung Thein from entering Insein Prison where Suu Kyi is being detained. Kyi Win was allowed inside the prison.

The Thailand-based human rights group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) (AAPP), released a statement on Saturday saying Aung Thein had his license to practice law revoked by the authorities on grounds that he did not abide by professional ethics.

In a statement, the AAPP said the action was a blatant attempt to damage the defense of Suu Kyi and her two caretakers and represents a pattern of harassment against lawyers who defend pro-democracy activists. There are currently eleven lawyers in prison across the country on charges associated with defense of activists.

Suu Kyi was charged on Thursday with violating the terms of her house arrest after her home was invaded by an American, John William Yettaw, 53, who also faces trial on charges he violated internal security laws.

Meanwhile, the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize committee called for Suu Kyi’s immediate release.

“Her recent detention in prison is totally unacceptable. She has done nothing wrong,” said the statement from the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which rarely comments on past peace laureates.

The charges against Suu Kyi are widely seen as a pretext for the ruling junta to keep Suu Kyi detained beyond the 2010 national election, part of the junta’s so-called "roadmap to democracy," which has been criticized as a ploy for the military regime to remain in power.

Despite sharp criticism and economic sanctions by the US, Europe and other countries, Burma’s generals have enjoyed the support of China and other Asian nations. They invariably march to their own tune and are likely to do so again in the prosecution of Suu Kyi, who they regard as their No 1 enemy.

The charges against Suu Kyi carry a penalty range of three to five years imprisonment.

Chronology of Suu Kyi and the ‘Inya Lake Swimmer’

By ARKAR MOE

May 1 - Burmese military authorities reject an appeal to release Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest.

May 2 - American John William Yettaw arrives in Rangoon on a tourist visa.

May 3 - Yettaw swims across Inya Lake to Suu Kyi’s house.

May 6 - Yettaw is fished out of the lake by police and arrested.

May 7 - State-run media report that a US citizen swam to Suu Kyi’s house and stayed for three days; More than 20 police briefly enter Suu Kyi’s compound; Suu Kyi’s lawyer announces that she is “not safe”; Dr Tin Myo Win is refused entry to the compound and is then arrested.

May 8 - Dr Pyone Mo Ei pays Suu Kyi a medical visit for about 2 hours.

May 11 - Dr Pyone Mo Ei revisits Suu Kyi and administers an intravenous drip.

May 13 - US embassy officials meet with Yettaw for three minutes at an interrogation center in Rangoon.

May 14 - Suu Kyi and her two “companions” are arrested and transferred to Insein prison where they are detained in a guest house within the jail’s compound; Suu Kyi, her two companions and Yettaw are charged; Suu Kyi’s lawyer announces she is to be tried on May 18; State-run newspapers publish a biography of Yettaw.

READ MORE---> Two Suu Kyi Lawyers Dismissed from Bar...

Wanted: Surin Pitsuwan

The Irrawaddy News

Since the arrest and detention of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi last week, regional newspapers have published front page stories on Burma and the detention of Suu Kyi. A few Asean-member countries have also spoke out against the politically motivated and unjust detention of Suu Kyi and her companions.

But the question is: where is Surin Pitsuwan, head of Asean?

As head of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and a former foreign minister of Thailand, Surin was a ray of hope in the region, known for being media friendly, outspoken and an open and democratic-minded person. Surin’s appointment injected a new wave of optimism in the region and beyond.

He recently gained deserved kudos for his active engagement in helping Burma when the country faced a serious humanitarian disaster in May 2008. After visiting the cyclone-hit delta, he declared, "We are being baptized by Cyclone Nargis."

Indeed, Surin is no stranger to Burma. He has many admirers in Burma for his outspokenness against the military dictators in Burma when he was foreign minister of Thailand under Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai.

At this sad moment in Burma’s history, wouldn’t it be proper for Surin and Asean to forcefully and clearly speak out on human rights principles by condemning Burma in the strongest possible language?

Is Surin afraid of making enemies among the generals in Naypyidaw? We hope not.

A group of the world’s Nobel Peace Prize winners recently appealed directly to Surin for help and leadership, in a letter on May 14 signed by Desmond Tutu, Jody Williams, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Adolfo Perez Esquivel Wangari Mathaai, Shirin Ebadi, Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan Maguire.

They urged him to take action against the false imprisonment of their fellow Nobel laureate, Suu Kyi.

“It is time for Asean and the international community to join in voicing their outrage for this horrible injustice,” the letter said. “We urgently express our views to you and implore you to do everything in your power to free this internationally champion of nonviolence, human rights and democracy.”

Surin, we call on you to stand up for justice in Burma and to make Asean relevant in human rights. As of now, it is nothing more than a toothless tiger taking in circles.

READ MORE---> Wanted: Surin Pitsuwan...

Nobel Committee issue rare protest on Suu Kyi

(DVB)–The Norweigian-based Nobel Committee have issued a rare statement protesting the arrest of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, saying her recent detention is “totally unacceptable”.

The leader of the opposition National League for Democracy party was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1991, and is the only Nobel laureate to be in detention.

“She has done nothing wrong,” said Thorbjorn Jagland, Chairman of the Nobel Committee.

“We urge that she and other political prisoners be immediately and unconditionally released,” adding that “free elections should be held as soon as possible”.

Suu Kyi will face trial on Monday for allegedly breaching conditions of her house arrest following the intrusion last week of US citizen John William Yettaw into her compound, where she has been held under house arrest for 13 of the last 19 years.

The Nobel Committee’s comments follow alarming remarks from the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), who sent an ominous warning about the possibility of Suu Kyi being detained in Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison.

"It’s clear for us taking account the number of deaths, torture and disappearing in this prison, we do consider this imprisonment as an effort of the regime to eliminate her," said Emmanouil Athanasion, Program Manager at FIDH.

"We are very strong and sure about the use of the word eliminate: to eliminate her, not only politically."

If convicted of the charges, Suu Kyi could face up to five years in prison. She is nearing the end of the sixth year of her current spell under house arrest, due to expire on 27 May.

Critics of the Burmese regime have alleged that the pending trial is a tactical manoeuvre to exclude her from the 2010 elections.

Reporting by Francis Wade and Rosalie Smith

READ MORE---> Nobel Committee issue rare protest on Suu Kyi...

Stop tip-toeing around and save Suu Kyi

By: Zoya Phan

(Blogs' Reuters) - If statements of concern were enough to influence the brutal dictatorship ruling my country, then opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the people of Burma would have been freed many years ago. It is impossible to count the number of statements from world leaders condemning the dictatorship, whether it be for imprisoning Aung San Suu Kyi, crushing democracy uprisings, or blocking aid after Cyclone Nargis last year.

But while these statements are welcome, they are clearly not enough. Burma is not run by politicians or diplomats. The generals ruling my country are brutal killers. They spent years in the jungles of Burma engaged in a campaign of ethnic cleansing against ethnic people. They use rape as a weapon of war, torture and shoot on sight. Babies are snatched from the arms of their mothers and thrown into the burning homes of innocent villagers. Landmines are laid in church doorways, deliberately aimed at those going to pray. Why do the United Nations and so many other countries think that statements and soft diplomacy is the way to influence people who are involved in such horrors?

Now, once again, Aung San Suu Kyi has been taken to the notorious Insein Jail. Once again there is an international outcry. So far, once again, the generals are ignoring it. How many times will we have to go over the same old ground before the international community wakes up to the nature of the generals they are dealing with? These generals are not immune to pressure. They depend on international trade and investment for their survival. It funds their luxury lifestyles and pays for the guns they use to keep their grip on power. They crave international acceptance and legitimacy, which is why they are pushing ahead with sham elections next year. They are vulnerable to real pressure, but it has never been properly applied.

It is time to hold Burma’s generals to account. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma has said that the dictatorship is breaking the Geneva Conventions by deliberately targeting civilians in Eastern Burma. That makes them war criminals. Why aren’t they in an international court? The International Labour Organisation has said the dictatorship is committing a crime against humanity for its use of forced labour. Why aren’t they facing a case at the International Court of Justice? The United Nations has also said that Aung San Suu Kyi’s detention is illegal under international law. Why has no action been taken?

It is time to stop tip-toeing around the generals, and treat them like the criminals they are.

In most countries if someone commits a serious crime they are hunted down, tried and imprisoned. Imagine if someone committed a murder in London, and the response of the police was just to issue a statement saying they are deeply concerned by the murder, and asks the murderer not to do it again, or they’ll issue another statement.

Burma’s generals belong in jail. Until they face a real threat of being held accountable for their criminal behaviour, they will keep on jailing Aung San Suu Kyi, keep slaughtering ethnic civilians, and keep ignoring the international community.

- Zoya Phan is international coordinator at The Burma Campaign UK. Her autobiography, Little Daughter, was published by Simon and Schuster in April. The opinions expressed are her own. -

READ MORE---> Stop tip-toeing around and save Suu Kyi...

An ordeal without end

Bangkok Post Editorial

The renewed persecution of Burmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has brought an angry and troubled response from world leaders. The outrage should come as no surprise to those who ordered her transfer and incarceration in Rangoon's Insein prison on a charge of violating her house arrest. Whether they will see reason and put an end to this continuing charade is another matter. We can only hope that wiser heads prevail.

It seems more than coincidence that this fresh trial, which could carry a five-year jail term, has been ordered just two weeks before the one-year extension to her years of house arrest was due to end. Alarmingly, it has come at a time when the 63-year-old Nobel laureate is suffering from low blood pressure, dehydration and other health problems, not helped by the absence of her doctor who was taken away for questioning earlier this week.

The charges against her are bizarre and illogical. They concern the actions of an American intruder at her home whose motives in allegedly swimming across a lake to reach her house are unknown. What is known is that she asked him to leave and that the Burmese authorities are responsible for security at the dilapidated lakeside home to which she had been confined as their prisoner. Yet her jailers are not the ones on trial. Surely they must realise that any intruder could have posed a threat to the person they were supposed to be guarding.

The events currently unfolding make it clear that the junta is determined to ensure that the elections it plans for next year as part of its ''roadmap to democracy'' suffer no disruption even if this involves a total disregard for human rights. Going to such extremes also lends credence to widely-held beliefs that the 2010 elections are merely a sham designed to perpetuate the status quo and entrench the military in power.

The Burmese authorities have already disqualified Mrs Suu Kyi from participating in the elections because her late husband was a foreigner. Now her very liberty appears to be considered a daunting threat to the state. Do the authorities not realise that by continually courting international condemnation and inflaming public opinion in their zeal to think up new ways to confine and harass her, they are taking a greater risk than that entailed in simply granting this courageous lady the freedom she deserves. The overwhelming paranoia and xenophobia which governs the junta's actions has already led to Burma being considered an embarrassment within Asean, ostracised by much of the world, condemned to economic sanctions and branded a human rights violator. Only in Burma could a pro-democracy icon whose party won a national election in 1990 be considered a threat to democracy.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva says that Asean, currently chaired by Thailand, is ''concerned'' by the latest events in Burma. Singapore and Indonesia have echoed his words. Other world leaders and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon have gone further, some much further. This is no surprise. Mrs Suu Kyi has earned respect for her courage, humanitarian ideals and quiet dignity. The world's most famous political prisoner is not known and revered as 'The Lady' for nothing.

Today Aung San Suu Kyi marks 13 years and 204 days spent in detention with another trial starting on Monday and no end to her ordeal in sight. A sad day, but one which carries the certainty that no matter what they subject her to, 'The Lady' will continue to give hope and inspiration to the people of Burma.

READ MORE---> An ordeal without end...

Three Asean members oppose Suu Kyi charges

By: THANIDA TANSUBHAPOL AND AGENCIES
Bangkok Post

Three Asean members - Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia - have raised concerns about Burma's move to lodge new charges against detained Aung San Suu Kyi, and called for her release.

Burma, itself a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, has lodged fresh charges against the Burmese democracy icon, stemming from an incident in which an American swam across a lake to stay at her house.

The move by the three countries is seen as unusual. By convention, Asean members do not intervene in each other's internal affairs.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said yesterday all countries were concerned about the credibility of any Burmese probe into the US man's action.

"What we would like to know is what the truth is, what the intent of that US man is, how could he pass the security guards surrounding Mrs Suu Kyi's house, who is behind this and is there some sort of conspiracy?" Mr Kasit said.

"I don't know. But I think the facts should be told to the public."

Mrs Suu Kyi and her two maids will go before the court on Monday.

Mr Kasit hoped the process would be transparent and Mrs Suu Kyi's period for detention would not be extended further.

"We would like to see Mrs Suu Kyi and political prisoners released, as reflected in the Asean chairman's statement at the 14th Asean summit in Cha-am last March," he said.

Mrs Suu Kyi is facing five years in jail on charges of breaching the terms of her house arrest after a bizarre incident in which a US man swam to her off-limits lakeside house in Rangoon.

The incident came just a few days before the expiry of her most recent six-year detention order om May 27.

She faces a new trial on Monday, and the jail term if convicted of the new charges would keep her behind bars past an election due next year.

The elections are part of a so-called "roadmap" to restore democracy that the country's ruling junta has pledged to adopt.

International critics have said the process will be a sham if she and her party are excluded.

Thailand is rotating chairman of Asean.

Mr Kasit said Thai ambassador to Rangoon Bansarn Bunnag has been assigned to consult other Asean ambassadors based in Burma about the Asean position.

The US embassy in Bangkok has also contacted the Thai government and told it that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would call the Asean secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan or Mr Kasit about the situation.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Friday expressed concern about the health of Mrs Suu Kyi and the country's long-delayed "roadmap" to democracy.

Mr Abhisit said the 10-nation bloc had been urging Burma to adopt an inclusive political process.

"Clearly her health condition is of concern, and that should be a concern for everybody," he said at the Foreign Correspondents' Club in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, Singapore said yesterday it was dismayed after Burma lodged new charges against Mrs Suu Kyi.

"We reiterate the call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi from detention. We are also concerned about recent reports on her poor health," said the Singapore foreign ministry.

Indonesia also urged Burma to release Mrs Suu Kyi and drop the new "arbitrary" charges against her.

"The Indonesian government is very concerned about the arbitrary detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and we are hoping for a legal process so we know the basis for her detention," foreign ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said."The charges against her are not appropriate."

EARLIER REPORT by AFP:

Rights groups slam Asean countries for their silence after the Burmese military junta brings trumped up charges against an ailing Aung San Suu Kyi, shown some years ago in this portrait on a protester's placard.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to use its influence with its most troublesome member, and said that China, Japan and India should also use their weight.

Asean ambassadors met in Rangoon on Friday to hammer out a statement on the group's perennial problem country, but the 10-member bloc has historically shied away from criticising the ruling generals.

Indonesia and Singapore were the only members to directly call for Aung San Suu Kyi's release and condemn the charges, which state that she breached the terms of her house arrest when a US man intruded on her lakeside house.

"The charges against her are not appropriate. Why should Aung San Suu Kyi be detained when it was the American national who swam across the waters to her house?'' Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said in Jakarta.

Singapore's foreign ministry said in a statement that it was "dismayed'' by the charges against the 63-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner and also called for her release.

In Bangkok, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said only that his country "hope(s) that she should be released'', adding that Thailand was "very, very concerned'' about the possibility that Burma could extend her detention.

Aung San Suu Kyi faces a five-year jail term if found guilty at her trial, which will be held in Rangoon's notorious Insein prison, where she was taken on Thursday from her home.

She has spent 13 of the last 19 years in detention, most of them in virtual isolation at the sprawling lakeside property where she received the bizarre visit from US national John Yettaw last week that led to the charges.

Mr Kasit said Thailand's ambassador in Rangoon would meet with his Asean counterparts to discuss a statement by the bloc, which has a policy of non-interference in members' internal affairs.

Senior officials from Asean and its six dialogue partners -- China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand -- would also meet on the sidelines of a regular meeting in the tourist island of Phuket in Thailand on Tuesday, he said.

Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone voiced "deep concern'' over the new charges, local media reported. Japan is the top donor to Burma among the OECD's major economies.

But there was silence from the rest of the region. China, one of Burma's closest allies and a major consumer of its vast natural resources, remained silent on the charges against Aung San Suu Kyi, as did India.

London-based Amnesty International called on the UN Security Council, "notably China and Japan, and Asean countries, (to) urgently intervene to secure Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's release from Insein prison''.

"They are best placed to bring the necessary pressure to bear on the Burma government,'' it said in a statement.

Human Rights Watch, based in New York, made a similar appeal.

"China, India, Singapore, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries should be calling for a genuine and participatory political process in Burma, which means serious public pressure for the release of political opponents,'' said Elaine Pearson, the group's deputy Asia director.

"Aung San Suu Kyi's latest arrest shows how their silence simply encourages more contempt for basic freedoms,'' she said in a statement.

READ MORE---> Three Asean members oppose Suu Kyi charges...

Myanmar bars lawyer from Suu Kyi trial

YANGON, MYANMAR (Times of India): Myanmar's military rulers disbarred a prominent lawyer who applied to defend pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in her
upcoming trial, the attorney said on Saturday.

Suu Kyi, who was taken from her home Thursday by police, faces a possible five-year prison term for allegedly violating terms of her house arrest by sheltering an American man who swam across a lake to her home.

Her latest arrest has sparked a storm of international appeals to Myanmar's junta to free the 63-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner and to restore democracy in the country, which has been under military rule since 1962.

Despite mounting international protests, the junta appears ready to begin the trial Monday at Insein Prison, where Suu Kyi is being held along with two assistants who have lived with her.

Lawyer Aung Thein said Saturday that he was dismissed from the country's Bar Council on Friday, a day after he applied to represent Suu Kyi. He has defended political activists in the past and was earlier jailed for four months for contempt of court.

Suu Kyi was charged Thursday with violating the terms of her house arrest after being visited by American John William Yettaw, 53, who also faces trial.

Suu Kyi has already spent 13 of the last 19 years in detention without trial for her nonviolent promotion of democracy. She had been scheduled to be freed May 27 after six consecutive years of house arrest but now faces up to five years in prison if convicted, according to one of her lawyers, Hla Myo Myint.

He and another lawyer represented her at the arraignment, but Suu Kyi had asked for three other defense lawyers, including Aung Thein.

President Barack Obama extended for another year a state of emergency regarding Myanmar that maintains sanctions against the military-run country.

In a message to the U.S. Congress sent Friday, Obama said that a ``crisis'' between the United States and Myanmar `has not been resolved.'

The Norwegian committee that propelled Suu Kyi into the world spotlight by awarding her the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 called for her immediate release.

``Her recent detention in prison is totally unacceptable. She has done nothing wrong,'' said a statement from the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which rarely comments on past laureates.

The charges are widely seen as a pretext for the ruling junta to keep Suu Kyi detained past elections it has scheduled for next year as the culmination of a ``roadmap to democracy,'' which has been criticized as a fig leaf for continued military control.

But despite sharp criticism and sanctions in the past, Myanmar's generals, who enjoy the support of China and other Asian nations, have invariably marched to their own tune and are likely to do so in the case of Suu Kyi, who they regard as their No. 1 enemy.

Exactly why Yettaw, of Falcon, Missouri, swam across the lake to see Suu Kyi remains unclear. He is also under arrest and to be tried for violating the security cordon around Suu Kyi's house.

His wife, Betty Yettaw, described her husband as eccentric but peace-loving and `not political at all.'

According to his ex-wife Yvonne Yettaw, he said he went to Asia to work on a psychology paper about forgiveness.

READ MORE---> Myanmar bars lawyer from Suu Kyi trial...

Myanmar bars Suu Kyi lawyer as U.S. renews sanctions

By Aung Hla Tun
(Writing by Darren Schuettler; Editing by Alex Richardson)

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's junta has barred a prominent activist lawyer from defending opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, as pressure intensifies on the regime to drop new charges against the Nobel Peace laureate.

Aung Thein said the order revoking his licence was issued on Friday, a day after a prison court charged Suu Kyi with breaking the conditions of her nearly six-year house arrest, which is due to expire on May 27. "I went to Insein Prison to be one of the five defence lawyers for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and they issued the order the next day," Aung Thein told Reuters.

Critics of the regime have denounced the trial of Suu Kyi and two female companions, due to start on Monday, on charges stemming from the mysterious visit of an American intruder who was arrested after he claimed to have spent two days at her lakeside home in Yangon.

Suu Kyi, 63, faces up to five years in jail if convicted.

Her lawyers insist she is innocent and did not invite U.S. citizen John Yettaw, who according to state media swam to her tightly-guarded lakeside home using homemade flippers.

Yettaw's motives remain unclear, but he has been charged with various offences, including encouraging others to break the law and "illegal swimming."

The military, which has ruled the former Burma since 1962, has so far ignored the international outcry over its latest crackdown on Suu Kyi, who has spent more than 13 of the past 19 years in some form of detention.

SANCTIONS

U.S. President Barack Obama renewed sanctions against the regime on Friday, saying its actions and policies continued to pose a serious threat to U.S. interests.

"The crisis between the United States and Burma ... has not been resolved," Obama said, citing sanctions first imposed by the United States in 1997 and ratcheted up several times in response to repression of democracy activists.

"These actions and policies are hostile to U.S. interests," Obama said. "For this reason, I have determined that it is necessary to ... maintain in force the sanctions against Burma to respond to this threat."

Washington has led Western governments in gradually tightening sanctions against the regime over its resistance to political reforms and detention of Suu Kyi and more than 2,000 other activists.

But neither sanctions, nor the policy of engagement espoused by Myanmar's regional neighbours, have succeeded in coaxing the generals into meaningful reforms.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's admitted in February that sanctions have not worked and Washington was looking for new ways to influence the regime. But analysts had not expected that review to lead to a swift change in America's sanctions policy.

Pro-democracy activists cheered Obama's announcement and urged him to lead a wider effort to pressure the regime.

"Now that President Obama has continued a wise policy from the United States, it is time for him to seize the moment and take action internationally," said Jeremy Woodrum of the U.S. Campaign for Burma.

"We hope he will immediately pursue a global arms embargo at the UN Security Council, as well as an investigation into crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by Burma's military regime," he said in a statement.

Analysts say the charges against Suu Kyi are aimed at keeping her sidelined ahead of the junta's promised elections in 2010, part of its seven-step "roadmap to democracy."

The West has derided the roadmap as a sham to ensure the military's grip on power.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide election victory in 1990 only to be denied power by the military.

It has set several conditions, including reform of the army-drafted constitution and the release of all political prisoners, before it will decide whether to run in the 2010 polls.

Carter discusses Myanmar

READ MORE---> Myanmar bars Suu Kyi lawyer as U.S. renews sanctions...

"Protest for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all of Burma's political prisoners"

"Free Aung San Suu Kyi Demonstration!" at UK and Australia cities

Free Aung San Suu Kyi Demonstration!
"Protest for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and
all of Burma's political prisoners"

Host: Burma Campaign UK
Monday: May 18 at 12:00pm
Date: Monday, May 18, 2009
Time: 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Location: Burmese Embassy
Street: 19A Charles Street, Mayfair, London, W1J 5DX
City: Town: London, United Kingdom

Find out more here:
http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/index.php/burma/news/un-and-asean-action-needed-to-free-aung-san-suu-kyi

MAP London

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-----

Host: Burma Campaign Australia
To get a situation update visit http://www.aucampaignforburma.org/FREEASSK.htm

SYDNEY
Date: Monday May 18th, 2009
Time: 12 noon
Location: Outside Tanya Plibersek (Minister for the Status of Women) office,
Street: 111-117 Devonshire Street,
City: Surry Hills 2010
Contact Phone: Zetty Brake, 0416 289 235 or
Email: zetty@aucampaignforburma.org
Please wear a shirt with Aung San Suu Kyi’s face on it to show solidarity

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CANBERRA

Host: Joint Action Committee for Democracy in Burma
Date: Monday, May 18
Time: 12:00pm - 3:00pm
Where: Burmese Embassy Canberra
Street: 22 Arkana St
City: Yarralumla, ACT 2600
Email: jacdb.au@gmail.com

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PERTH
Date: Monday May 18th, 2009
Time: 1pm
Location: Outside Stephen Smith office (Minister for Foreign Affairs)
Street: 953A Beaufort St,
City: Inglewood, WA 6932
Contact Phone: Myo Nyunt 08 9310 1777

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MELBOURNE
Date: May 18th, 2009
Time: 1pm
Location: Outside Simon Crean office(Minister for Trade)
Street: 401 Clayton Road,
City: Clayton, 3168
Contact Phone: Kyaw Soe Moe - 0403-574 313

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READ MORE---> "Protest for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all of Burma's political prisoners"...

India’s Left constituent joins outcry over Suu Kyi’s trial

by Solomon

New Delhi (Mizzima)- India’s Left Front constituent, the All India Forward Bloc, has condemned Burma’s ruling junta for charging pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, saying that the whole incident was a ploy by the junta.

Ashok Ghosh, member of the Central Secretariat of the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB), told Mizzima on Thursday that the charges against Burma’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, of breaching the detention law, was a ploy to continue detaining her.

“We cannot accept that. We are opposed to it, it is a trick played by the government of Burma,” Ghosh said.

His reaction came a day after the Burmese Nobel Peace Laureate was taken from her lakeside villa to a special court in the notorious Insein prison, where she faces trial for charges of breaching her detention law by allowing an alien to enter her house and providing him food, shelter, and water.

The charges were made after an American citizen, John William Yettaw, visited Aung San Suu Kyi’s house by swimming across the Innya Lake, on May 3. Burmese authorities said. He was arrested on the morning of May 6, while he was swimming back from Aung San Suu Kyi’s house.

Following the incident, Aung San Suu Kyi’s doctor, Tin Myo Win, was arrested and detained. Aung San Suu Kyi along with her two party members, Khin Win and daughter, who live with her and look after her, were produced in a special court.

Aung San Suu Kyi is said to be detained in a separate house inside the Insein Prison precincts and will face the second court hearing on May 18.

Calling the charges and trial ‘illegal’ and ‘unjust’, Ghosh said the whole incident was masterminded by the ruling junta, with the intention to continue detaining Aung San Suu Kyi.

He said it is impossible for anybody to swim across the lake and enter into Aung San Suu Kyi’s house, without being noticed, as security was tight in and around the compound.

“This is only a trick to continue imprisoning her,” Ghosh added.

Ghosh said, instead of resorting to tricks to continue detaining Aung San Suu Kyi, the ruling junta should release her immediately and allow her to participate in their proposed 2010 election.

“There should be no election without Suu Kyi. The Burmese regime must free Suu Kyi before the election. We want to see a free and fair election, he said.

“No Suu Kyi, no election,” he added.

The All India Forward Bloc, is a leftwing party founded by the father of the Indian National Army Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, who had joined hands with Burma’s Independence architect and father of Burma’s Armed Forces General Aung San, in their struggle to drive out British colonialists from both India and Burma.

All India Forward Bloc is the first Indian political party to have raised its voice regarding the charges and the trial against Burma’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Congress, heading India’s United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition government, and its main rival the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have not come up with any official reaction on Aung San Suu Kyi’s situation.

Meanwhile, the international community, including the United States have, widely condemned the junta for charging Aung San Suu Kyi and putting her on trial, with many speculating that it was the junta’s ploy to detain her further.

The US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday said “I am deeply troubled by the Burmese Government’s decision to charge Aung San Suu Kyi for a baseless crime.”

Clinton, during a press conference on Thursday said, “We oppose the regime’s efforts to use this incident as a pretext to place further unjustified restrictions on her.”

She called on the Burmese authorities to release her immediately and unconditionally, along with her doctor and the more than 2,100 political prisoners currently being detained.

Clinton’s statement was echoed by leaders of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and others including Burma’s neighbour Thailand in their call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Similarly, ‘The Elders Group’, a group consisting of World dignitaries including former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, South Africa’s Archbishop and Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tu Tu and Nelson Mandela also urged the Burmese junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi.

“Release our sister now! Absurd ‘trial’ is an excuse to extend her incarceration,” said Desmond Tutu, Chair of the group, in a statement.

Former US president Jimmy Carter also said in the statement, “We stand by Aung San Suu Kyi and call on world leaders to demand her immediate release.”

Meanwhile, the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed his grave concern over the news of Aung San Suu Kyi being transferred to Insein prison from her lakeside villa, where she was under house arrest.

Michele Montas, Ban’s spokesperson, in a press release said, “The Secretary-General is gravely concerned about the news that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been shifted to Insein Prison to face criminal charges.”

The UN chief called on Burma’s military government to negotiate with all other opposition groups instead of confrontation in order to move ahead with the process of national reconciliation.

Montas said, Ban Ki-moon believes, “Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is an essential partner for a dialogue in Myanmar's national reconciliation and urged on the Government not to take any further action that could undermine this important process.”

READ MORE---> India’s Left constituent joins outcry over Suu Kyi’s trial...

India’s Left constituent joins outcry over Suu Kyi’s trial

by Solomon

New Delhi (Mizzima)- India’s Left Front constituent, the All India Forward Bloc, has condemned Burma’s ruling junta for charging pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, saying that the whole incident was a ploy by the junta.

Ashok Ghosh, member of the Central Secretariat of the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB), told Mizzima on Thursday that the charges against Burma’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, of breaching the detention law, was a ploy to continue detaining her.

“We cannot accept that. We are opposed to it, it is a trick played by the government of Burma,” Ghosh said.

His reaction came a day after the Burmese Nobel Peace Laureate was taken from her lakeside villa to a special court in the notorious Insein prison, where she faces trial for charges of breaching her detention law by allowing an alien to enter her house and providing him food, shelter, and water.

The charges were made after an American citizen, John William Yettaw, visited Aung San Suu Kyi’s house by swimming across the Innya Lake, on May 3. Burmese authorities said. He was arrested on the morning of May 6, while he was swimming back from Aung San Suu Kyi’s house.

Following the incident, Aung San Suu Kyi’s doctor, Tin Myo Win, was arrested and detained. Aung San Suu Kyi along with her two party members, Khin Win and daughter, who live with her and look after her, were produced in a special court.

Aung San Suu Kyi is said to be detained in a separate house inside the Insein Prison precincts and will face the second court hearing on May 18.

Calling the charges and trial ‘illegal’ and ‘unjust’, Ghosh said the whole incident was masterminded by the ruling junta, with the intention to continue detaining Aung San Suu Kyi.

He said it is impossible for anybody to swim across the lake and enter into Aung San Suu Kyi’s house, without being noticed, as security was tight in and around the compound.

“This is only a trick to continue imprisoning her,” Ghosh added.

Ghosh said, instead of resorting to tricks to continue detaining Aung San Suu Kyi, the ruling junta should release her immediately and allow her to participate in their proposed 2010 election.

“There should be no election without Suu Kyi. The Burmese regime must free Suu Kyi before the election. We want to see a free and fair election, he said.

“No Suu Kyi, no election,” he added.

The All India Forward Bloc, is a leftwing party founded by the father of the Indian National Army Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, who had joined hands with Burma’s Independence architect and father of Burma’s Armed Forces General Aung San, in their struggle to drive out British colonialists from both India and Burma.

All India Forward Bloc is the first Indian political party to have raised its voice regarding the charges and the trial against Burma’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Congress, heading India’s United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition government, and its main rival the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have not come up with any official reaction on Aung San Suu Kyi’s situation.

Meanwhile, the international community, including the United States have, widely condemned the junta for charging Aung San Suu Kyi and putting her on trial, with many speculating that it was the junta’s ploy to detain her further.

The US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday said “I am deeply troubled by the Burmese Government’s decision to charge Aung San Suu Kyi for a baseless crime.”

Clinton, during a press conference on Thursday said, “We oppose the regime’s efforts to use this incident as a pretext to place further unjustified restrictions on her.”

She called on the Burmese authorities to release her immediately and unconditionally, along with her doctor and the more than 2,100 political prisoners currently being detained.

Clinton’s statement was echoed by leaders of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and others including Burma’s neighbour Thailand in their call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Similarly, ‘The Elders Group’, a group consisting of World dignitaries including former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, South Africa’s Archbishop and Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tu Tu and Nelson Mandela also urged the Burmese junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi.

“Release our sister now! Absurd ‘trial’ is an excuse to extend her incarceration,” said Desmond Tutu, Chair of the group, in a statement.

Former US president Jimmy Carter also said in the statement, “We stand by Aung San Suu Kyi and call on world leaders to demand her immediate release.”

Meanwhile, the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed his grave concern over the news of Aung San Suu Kyi being transferred to Insein prison from her lakeside villa, where she was under house arrest.

Michele Montas, Ban’s spokesperson, in a press release said, “The Secretary-General is gravely concerned about the news that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been shifted to Insein Prison to face criminal charges.”

The UN chief called on Burma’s military government to negotiate with all other opposition groups instead of confrontation in order to move ahead with the process of national reconciliation.

Montas said, Ban Ki-moon believes, “Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is an essential partner for a dialogue in Myanmar's national reconciliation and urged on the Government not to take any further action that could undermine this important process.”

READ MORE---> India’s Left constituent joins outcry over Suu Kyi’s trial...

Thailand urges Burma to end Aung San Suu Kyi's detention

By Supalak Ganjankhundee - The Nation

Thailand yesterday joined the international community in calling for the end of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's detention as her current term of house arrest expires late this month.

"As the period for the detention is about to came to an end, we hope that there is no more detention", Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said at a press conference.

The Burmese military junta decided to try Suu Kyi on Monday after American John Yettaw swam across Inya Lake to her residence in Rangoon.

The current term of her house arrest, imposed since 2003, expires on May 27, and her lawyer planned to appeal for her release.

Aung San Suu Kyi could be given a five- years jail term if convicted on the charge of violating her house arrest, which bars her from meeting with outsiders.

Kasit urged the junta to be transparent in its handling of the case.

As chairman of Asean, Kasit said the release of Aung San Suu Kyi would benefit Burma's process of national reconciliation and political reform.

"In connection with the general election next year, we would like to see inclusiveness and the release of political prisoners, he said.

"So I want to repeat what has been the common position of Asean and for the common wish for the betterment and happiness of the Myanmar [Burmese] people," he said.

However, Thailand and Asean would not put pressure to the military junta to get Suu Kyi released, he said.

Senior Asean officials are to meet next week in Phuket to seek if they can do anything to help "rescue" Suu Kyi, he said. Asean ambassadors in Rangoon will also have a meeting to monitor the situation.

Thailand and other Asean countries will dispatch representatives to attend the Burmese court's trail if Burmese authorities allow them to do so, Kaset said.

London-based Amnesty International urged the United Nations Security Council, China, Japan and Asean to take immediate action to intervene for the release of Suu Kyi from the notorious Insein prison.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has also demanded the immediate release of Suu Kyi, is expected to call Asean secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan and Kasit as Asean chairman to consult discuss Suu Kyi's situation, Kasit said.

The United Kingdom, Indonesia and United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon have also called for the unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Asked if Thailand or Asean would lobby Beijing to put pressure on the junta, Kasit said China also had a responsibility to support political development in Burma.

"We all have responsibilities, as Asia-Pacific fellows, to see Burma become a progressive society with happiness," he said.

READ MORE---> Thailand urges Burma to end Aung San Suu Kyi's detention...