Suu Kyi verdict set for Friday

[MidTMike]

Suu Kyi verdict set for Friday

Writer: AFP

Published: 28/07/2009 at 01:59 PM

A court in military-ruled Burma will deliver its verdict in the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday, on charges that could see the democracy leader jailed for up to five years, her lawyer said.

Burma's junta has sparked international outrage for prosecuting the Nobel peace laureate for breaching the rules of her house arrest after an American man swam uninvited to her lakeside house in May.

"The verdict will be given this coming Friday. We are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst," defence lawyer Nyan Win told AFP Tuesday after the trial wrapped up with a final reply by Suu Kyi's legal team.

Judges Thaung Nyunt and Nyi Nyi Soe indicated to the court at the notorious Insein prison in Rangoon, where Suu Kyi is being held, that sentencing was expected on the same day, Nyan Win said.

"We have a good chance according to the law, but we cannot know what the court will decide because this is a political case," said Nyan Win, who is also the spokesman for her National League for Democracy.

"If she is released unconditionally she will be home on that day -- if not, the sentence will be together with the verdict."

The verdict is widely expected to be a guilty one given the previous form of Burma's courts, which have handed down heavy sentences to dozens of dissidents over the past year.

But the Suu Kyi case has been repeatedly delayed since it started on May 18 amid signs that the regime is trying to quell the storm of international outrage over its treatment of the opposition leader.

U2 singer Bono publicly announced during a concert in Dublin on Monday that Suu Kyi had been named Amnesty International's ambassador of conscience for 2009, the rights group's highest honour.

Diplomats from Thailand, Japan, Singapore and the United States attended Tuesday's hearing, a Burma official said on condition of anonymity. Most of the trial has taken place behind closed doors.

Critics have accused the junta of trying to keep Suu Kyi locked up ahead of elections next year, and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton led calls for her release at an Asian security conference last week.

Suu Kyi has been in jail or under house arrest for 13 of the last 19 years since the junta refused to recognise the NLD's landslide victory in Burma's last national elections, in 1990.

The court made the announcement about the verdict after hearing final comments by lawyers for Suu Kyi, her two female aides and US national John Yettaw, in response to closing statements delivered by prosecutors on Monday.

All face similar sentences.

Her lawyers say that she was not responsible for the intrusion by Yettaw -- who has said that he was inspired by a divine vision that she would be assassinated -- and that she was charged under outdated laws.

But Burma's rulers have strongly defended the trial.

State media on Tuesday made the strongest suggestions yet that Yettaw was an agent of an outside power, possibly the United States, and was trying to smuggle Suu Kyi out of detention.

The New Light of Burma newspaper said the trial "has not been intentionally created by the government" but was the fault of Yettaw, who "might have been sent to the country by an anonymous country or organisation".

"The aim of his meeting with Daw Suu Kyi has not been known clearly. He even left two chadors (Muslim shawls) and dark sunglasses to her to act herself in disguise. Was it aimed at taking her out of the house?" it said.

The newspaper also pointed out that the route Yettaw used to enter her house was the "ditch beside the US embassy" and said the place he was arrested was 25 yards (metres) from the house of the US charge d'affaires.

"So there are many points to ponder," the editorial said.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/world/150384/suu-kyi-verdict-set-for-friday-in-burma

[nyoen]

i love syu ki. so, sometimes i didn't get the point why junta of militer is Myanmar must to arest her. Everyone in this world can think health if she didn't guilty.

[Wino]

This is old news but it is hard to believe the junta blames Suu Kyi and her staff for the actions of a nutty American. The nutcase goes home and Suu Kyi pays for his actions.

(New York) - The politically motivated guilty verdict against the Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is a reprehensible abuse of power by Burma's military government, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch called on Burma's allies and other governments to condemn the verdict, demand the Nobel Prize laureate's immediate and unconditional release, and impose additional targeted sanctions against the military leadership.

On August 11, 2009, a criminal court inside Insein prison in Rangoon sentenced Suu Kyi to 3 years of imprisonment for violating her order for house arrest, with the sentence reduced to 18 months, to be served under house arrest.

"This trial was a farce, a brutal distortion of the legal process," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "By silencing prominent opponents through bogus trials, the generals are clearly showing why the elections they have been touting for next year won't bring change."

Police arrested Suu Kyi, 64, and her two assistants, Khin Khin Win, 65, and her daughter, Win Ma Ma, 41, on May 14, 2009, and transferred them to Insein prison in the commercial capital, Rangoon. They went on trial on May 18, charged with breaching the terms of Suu Kyi's house arrest order by permitting the uninvited visit of an American, John William Yettaw, on May 4 and 5.

Yettaw has been sentenced to 7 years in prison with hard labor, convicted of the same charges of breaching Aung San Suu Kyi's detention order, and with breaching immigration laws. All four defendants were charged under the draconian State Emergency Act (also known as the Law to Safeguard the State Against the Dangers of Those Desiring to Cause Subversive Acts).

Criminal trials of political prisoners in Burma do not meet international fair trial standards. The judges are not independent, and the defense does not have an adequate opportunity to present its case. Suu Kyi's trial lasted from May 18 to July 31, with frequent delays. The court permitted 14 witnesses for the prosecution, but only two for the defense, despite several appeals by Suu Kyi's lawyers to present additional witnesses.

The trial has been closed to the public, with foreign diplomats and the press only permitted to observe the trial on a few occasions. The prosecution claimed that Suu Kyi was jointly responsible with the authorities, who place guards around her home, for the breach of security on her residence, and, therefore, the intrusion violated the terms of her house arrest.

"There was never any doubt that the verdict would be a purely political decision," said Adams. "Any suggestion that evidence presented or excluded had any impact on the outcome of this fraudulent trial is ridiculous."

Suu Kyi's trial had already been widely condemned by the international community. US President Barack Obama called it "a show trial." The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, visited Burma on July 3 and 4, but was denied access to Suu Kyi. Even a normally close ally of the Burmese government, Singapore, expressed "dismay" at the arrest, calling it "a setback for the national reconciliation process."

Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) also called for her release: a statement by the ASEAN chair, Thailand, "expresse[d] grave concern about recent developments relating to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," reminding Burma's military government that "as a responsible member of ASEAN, [burma] has the responsibility to protect and promote human rights."

Human Rights Watch called on ASEAN to use the recently formed ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights, the terms of reference for which were agreed on July 20, to hold the Burmese government to account for its actions.

Burma's supporters and trade partners - namely China, Russia, India, and ASEAN member states - should denounce this verdict and explore measures to impose targeted financial sanctions against the military leadership in Burma. Countries already imposing targeted sanctions - including the US, the European Union, Switzerland, Australia, and Canada - should expand and tighten the existing targeted financial sanctions, which focus on individual abusers and companies but not the population at large.

The UN Security Council should condemn Burma strongly and finally move to take meaningful action against Burma's military rulers. This could include an international arms embargo and other targeted sanctions on Burma.

"Burma's allies, such as China, Russia, and India, need to exert pressure on Burma's military rulers to free Suu Kyi immediately," said Adams. "It's time for ASEAN, the UN, and concerned governments to match their words of condemnation with action."

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/08/11/burma-aung-san-suu-kyi-verdict-reprehensible

[Thaifan]

i love syu ki. so, sometimes i didn't get the point why junta of militer is Myanmar must to arest her. Everyone in this world can think health if she didn't guilty.

Nyoen,

The Military Junta are trying to protect their grip on power and see her as the biggest threat because she won the last election conducted in Burma. They have been in power for many years and have killed many opponents. I have Burmese friends who were lucky enough to flee to Australia and their families were executed when the Army took control (because they were employed by the Government that they deposed). It is tragic that Syu Ki has been under house arrest for so long and that this recent case has led to them trying to legitimise it's continuance. Unfortunately the Americans are so used to intervening and making a hash of things there is every possibility that the 'crazy American' who invaded her house wasn't acting alone. It is very unfair that she is still under house arrest and likely to remain so because the Junta controls the Court while he is back home in America.

Let's hope that the people reject the Junta when Elections are held next year but this is unlikely because it will be rigged and Burmese people live in fear.

[Wino]

there is every possibility that the 'crazy American' who invaded her house wasn't acting alone.

The 'crazy American' was not acting alone. He admitted that God told him to do it.