BurmaNet News, May 16 - 18, 2009

[Editor]

May 16 – 18, 2009, Issue #3712

INSIDE BURMA
New York Times: Pro-Democracy leader goes on trial in Myanmar
The Independent (UK): Brave Suu Kyi supporters keep vigil for trial
Mizzima News: Court adjourns, next hearing set for May 19
Irrawaddy: Police officer testifies in Suu Kyi trial
DVB: Suu Kyi’s doctor released

ON THE BORDER
Bangkok Post: Burmese firms set up shop in Thailand

BUSINESS / TRADE
Reuters: Myanmar proposes road network with China, Bangladesh

ASEAN
Malaysiakini (Malaysia): Malaysian opposition calls for ASEAN to suspend
Burma over Suu Kyi's detention
Business Mirror (Philippines): Asean tackles Suu Kyi detention, new charges

INTERNATIONAL
Reuters: EU says ready to toughen sanctions on Myanmar
AFP: Obama extends Myanmar sanctions
AP: French minister denounces trial of peace laureate
Irrawaddy: Facebook campaign organizes support for Suu Kyi

OPINION / OTHER
The Nation (Thailand): Burma's jailing of Suu Kyi is a test for both Asean
and Surin – Kavi Chongkittavorn
Wall Street Journal: The Trial of Aung San Suu Kyi: How will the world
react to the injustice? – Jared Genser and Meghan Barron
Boston Globe: The junta's pretext – Editorial

INTERVIEW
The Nation (Thailand): Thailand urges Burma to achieve political process
acceptable to all



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

May 18, New York Times
Pro-Democracy leader goes on trial in Myanmar – Seth Mydans and Mark McDonald

Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, went on trial Monday
in a mostly procedural hearing as hundreds of police officers and army
soldiers blocked crowds of protesters, according to reports from news
agencies and opposition exile groups.

Several foreign diplomats were also prevented from entering the court
where Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi faced charges that could bring a prison term
of up to five years, according to the reports. A United States Embassy
official was allowed to enter because another defendant in the trial is an
American man who swam across a lake early this month and spent a night in
Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s house.

Though the American, John Yettaw, apparently acted without her knowledge,
his adventure led to charges that she violated the terms of the house
arrest that has limited her outside contacts for 13 of the past 19 years.

The trial, with its peculiar origin, was the most aggressive action the
ruling junta has taken in recent years against Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, 63,
who has remained the symbolic leader of an opposition that continues to
resurface after repeated crackdowns. Most analysts saw the charges as a
pretext for extending her latest six-year term of house arrest in advance
of a general election next spring, in which the junta aims to formalize
the dominance of the military under a new constitution.

Some analysts also say the charges could herald a broader clampdown on
political dissent and pro-democracy figures in advance of the election.

Although the regime carried out a purge of opposition activists after an
uprising led by Buddhist monks in 2007, demonstrators were on the streets
again Monday, handing out leaflets and challenging police, soldiers and
civilian militias carrying bamboo rods and canes, according to the Burma
Partnership, an exile opposition group.

“In terms of security measures they’ve deployed, it’s very difficult for
people to come together for a big march,” said Khin Ohmar of the Burma
Partnership, who said she was in direct contact with members of the
opposition inside the nation, which was formerly called Burma.

It was not clear how long the trial might last, but Ms. Khin Ohmar said
officials had announced that the streets around the prison would be closed
off for a week.

The charges have brought broad condemnation from the United Nations,
Western countries and even some of Myanmar’s normally accommodating
Southeast Asian neighbors.

Last week, the United States, which had said it was reviewing a hard-line
policy of economic sanctions, announced that the measures would be
extended for another year. On Monday the European Union’s foreign policy
chief, Javier Solana, said, “It’s not the moment to lower sanctions, it’s
the moment in any case to increase them.”

Among Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s supporters, including exile groups and her
own lawyers, there is widespread anger at the American adventurer for
putting Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi at risk of imprisonment.

Mr. Yettaw, from Falcon, Mo., swam across Inya Lake in central Yangon
earlier this month and sneaked into Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s lakeside
compound at night. He used empty plastic jugs to keep himself afloat
during his swim, and he had a pair of makeshift flippers strapped to his
feet, according to reports in the official Myanmar press.

The reasons for his escapade remained unclear, although an American
diplomat said last week he seemed to have religious motivations for trying
to visit the house. Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s principal lawyer, who called
Mr. Yettaw “a nutty fellow” and “a fool,” said the Nobel laureate pleaded
with him to leave, but he complained of exhaustion and leg cramps. She
gave him a ground-floor room while she stayed in her bedroom upstairs.

The government does not allow Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi to have foreign
visitors at her home, and even senior diplomats are denied permission to
see her there. When the occasional United Nations envoy is allowed to
speak with her, it is at a government guest house in Yangon, the country’s
capital, formerly known as Rangoon. Also, overnight guests are prohibited
at her home.

Mr. Yettaw, 53, a Mormon, was reported to have prayed often while he was
at the house. He is said to have departed late the following night and was
spotted by the police while he was swimming back across the lake.

He is facing trial along with Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi and two women who
share her home.

Seth Mydans reported from Bangkok and Mark McDonald from Hong Kong.

____________________________________

May 18, The Independent (UK)
Brave Suu Kyi supporters keep vigil for trial – Phoebe Kennedy

As the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi opened in Rangoon today, dozens of her
supporters braved razor wire barriers, road blocks and paramilitary
intimidation outside Rangoon's notorious Insein prison, where the trial is
taking place, to show their solidarity with her.

The democracy leader is accused of violating the terms of her house arrest
by allowing her unwelcome guest, John Yettaw, an American citizen who swam
across the lake to the family villa where she is confined, to stay. If
found guilty she could be jailed for five years.

Win Tin, a member of her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD),
who spent 19 years in isolation in the jail as a political prisoner, was
one of the protesters. In a telephone interview with The Independent he
said the trial was simply a ploy to extend her detention, which is about
to expire.

"They are using this to extend her house arrest and to avoid her being
present during the elections," said the 79-year-old former journalist.
"[That way,] she cannot meet the people, she cannot say anything against
the election. She will be absent." Elections under a new, widely
criticised constitution are scheduled for next year.

British ambassador Mark Canning and other senior foreign diplomats tried
to enter the prison to attend the trial but were turned back at a road
block.

The closed court inside the high-security prison heard Lt Col Zaw Min Oo,
chief prosecutor, accuse Ms Suu Kyi of being "in breach of discipline" for
failing to turn Mr Yettaw over to the police who guarded her house.

But Nyan Win, one of Ms Suu Kyi's three lawyers, rejected the charges.
Speaking to The Independent outside the court, he said, "It is ridiculous
to say it was a breach of discipline when this man was an intruder, she
did not invite him there." He added that the trial could last up to three
months.

Ms Suu Kyi, 63, will plead not guilty, but observers fear that the outcome
of the trial - a guilty verdict - is not in doubt. Her supporters believe
the regime may use the case as a pretext for extending her latest six-year
term of detention ahead of a 2010 general election which the military
hopes will entrench its dominance under a new, much criticised
constitution.

Mr Yettaw, a Mormon and Vietnam veteran whose motives are still unclear,
swam more than a kilometre across Rangoon's Inya Lake to Ms Suu Kyi's home
in early May. Ms Suu Kyi pleaded with him to leave, her lawyers say, but
allowed him to stay the night when he complained of cramp and exhaustion.
The 53-year-old American, who was arrested as he swam away from the house,
is charged with immigration offences and entering a restricted zone.

Belying reports of fragile health, the opposition leader, dressed in an
elegant Burmese outfit - a sky blue fitted jacket and matching long skirt
- was in good spirits, according to Nyan Win.

"She asked me to give a message to all her friends and supporters that her
health is good and that she is as alert and focused as ever," he said.

Ms Suu Kyi was first put under house arrest almost 20 years ago, in July
1989, as her party was campaigning in Burma's first general election since
a coup d'etat ushered in military rule in 1962. She was still being held
incommunicado when the triumphant results were published. But the military
regime refused to honour the victory, arresting and killing many of the
party's supporters and MPs and driving many more into exile.

Ms Suu Kyi's last, brief interlude of freedom ended with a
regime-sponsored attempt on her life in July 2003. She was briefly
incarcerated in Insein Prison before being once again locked up in her
decaying lakeside villa.

Since then her conditions of imprisonment have been far harsher than
before. She has no telephone and cannot receive letters. In that sense,
her arrest has brought a welcome breath of fresh air and solidarity from
the outside world. "We were able to inform her of the support of the
international community," said Nyan Win, referring to calls by world
leaders such as Gordon Brown for her release. "She has no radio or TV so
she is really heartened to hear these things."

Ms Suu Kyi is being held in the grounds of the prison, which is notorious
for its squalid conditions and the abuse suffered by inmates. She was
reported as saying her accommodation was “comfortable.” Mr Yettaw and Ms
Suu Kyi’s two housekeepers and companions, a mother and daughter who have
lived with her since 2003, are being tried together with her.

Nyan Win said the trial could last for three months. A diplomat commented:
"The regime hates the world's attention on this so they will try to kick
it into the long grass and hope the interest fades."
____________________________________

May 18, Mizzima News
Court adjourns, next hearing set for May 19

The court in Insein Prison has adjourned for the day and fixed the next
date of hearing concerning Aung San Suu Kyi’s case for Tuesday, May 19.

The hearing on Monday, which began at 10 a.m. (local time), previously
broke at noon for lunch, before the justice adjourned the court for the
day at about 3 p.m. (local time).

After returning from court, Nyan Win, NLD spokesperson, held a press
conference at party headquarters and stated that Aung San Suu Kyi remains
in good health.

____________________________________

May 18, Irrawaddy
Police officer testifies in Suu Kyi trial – Saw Yan Naing

The first witness called by the prosecution on Monday was a police
official, said National League for Democracy (NLD) spokesman Nyan Win, who
is also a member of Aung San Suu Kyi’s legal team.

The police official testified that Suu Kyi—in flaunting the law governing
personal restrictions enforced on her in 2003—had broken the terms of her
house arrest, said Nyan Win, although he was unable to provide further
details of the police official’s testimony or his position within the
police force.

The NLD spokesman confirmed that the defense team had sufficient time to
question the witness.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Monday afternoon after attending the opening
day of the trial of Suu Kyi in Insein Prison, Nyan Win said that
proceedings had begun at 10 a.m. and finished at about 2 p.m., before
being adjourned until the following day.

Two NLD members, Khin Khin Win and her daughter Win Ma Ma, who have acted
as Suu Kyi’s caretakers in recent years, as well as John William Yettaw—an
American tourist who allegedly sneaked into Suu Kyi’s lakeside home on May
3—also appeared in court on Monday, said Nyan Win.

There are 22 prosecution witnesses, all of whom will be questioned, said
the NLD spokesman.

However, he said that he was worried about the process of the trial as the
military court usually takes orders directly from the ruling junta.

“From our experience of the Burmese courts, they usually do what the
regime orders,” said Nyan Win. “I’m worried about this situation.”

Suu Kyi faces a maximum of five years imprisonment if she is convicted of
violating the terms of her house arrest by harboring the American
intruder, who apparently swam two kilometers across Inya Lake to interview
the 63-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

It is obvious that the junta is attempting to prevent Suu Kyi from
participating in the upcoming election in 2010, said the NLD spokesman.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people—mostly NLD supporters—gathered outside
Insein Prison on Monday during Suu Kyi’s trial, said Win Tin, a leading
member of the NLD.

However, security forces were able to control the rally and persuaded the
crowd not to protest, said Win Tin.

Rangoon sources said that security forces were beefed up on Monday around
Insein Prison and on roads leading into the area. Shopkeepers near the
prison had earlier been ordered by the authorities to close their
premises.

____________________________________

May 18, Democratic Voice of Burma
Suu Kyi’s doctor released – Htet Aung Kyaw

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s physician, Dr Tin Myo Win,
who was arrested by government authorities on 7 May, was released
yesterday, according to a close relative.

“He was released this evening but is not at home at the moment as he just
went out,” said the relative.

The doctor was arrested when he went to see Suu Kyi on his monthly visit,
as permitted by the government.

About 20 officials from the Special Police branch were at Suu Kyi’s house
at the time of Tin Myo Win’s arrest to investigate the case of American
citizen John Yettaw who swam across Inya lake and allegedly stayed in her
compound for two days.

Following this incident Suu Kyi and her two caretakers were arrested, and
will face trial on Monday.

Suu Kyi has been charged with violating the conditions of her house arrest
and, if convicted, could be sentenced to a maximum of five years.

____________________________________

May 18, Xinhua
Burma building 13 hydropower plants

Myanmar [Burma] has been working to meet its domestic demand of
electricity, building up a total of 13 hydropower plants covering the
power grids of the whole nation since 1988 when the present government
took office.

Installed generating capacity of these established power plants now
accounts for only 3 per cent of that of the whole country, said the
editorial of Monday's official newspaper New Light of Myanmar.

On completion of other 35 ongoing hydropower projects, the editorial
predicts that Myanmar will be able to fulfil domestic electricity demand
in the future.

The newly-inaugurated hydropower plant, Shweli-1, on last Saturday
represented one of the country's latest achievement in the aspects and the
production of the plant is seen as being able to satisfy the nation's
power demand to an extent.

Claimed as the biggest power plant of its kind so far, the Shweli-1,
located near at Mantat Village, 27.2 km southwest of Namkham, northern
part of Shan state, possesses an installed generating capacity of 600
megawatts (mw) which can produce 4.022 billion kilowatt-hour (kwh) yearly.

Shweli-1 also stands one of the three large-scale hydropower projects
being implemented along the Shweli River.

Originating in China's southwestern Yunnan Province, the Shweli River
winds its way around Muse and Namkham and then flows into Myanmar's
Ayeyawaddy River.

The completed project reflects not only friendship between Myanmar and
China but also mutual cooperation between the two countries, the editorial
appraised.

In the very near future, another power plant, Yeywa, which is bigger than
Shweli-1, is expected to emerge.

Up to now, all the hydropower stations across the country can generate
more than 1,400 mw of electricity and the 35 ongoing projects could in the
future add 32,900 mw or 79 per cent to its installed capacity.

These projects lie along the rivers of Ayeyawaddy, Chindwin, Sittoung and
Thanlwin which are blessed with lots of water resources. Along the
Ayeyawaddy basin are Yeywa, Shweli, Zawgyi and Mone creek projects, the
editorial disclosed.

Meanwhile, experts estimated that with the country's total available water
resources, up to 43,400 mw of the capacity could be produced.

Although Myanmar does not have enough electricity at present, it will in
not-too-distant future, be able to fulfil its domestic demand, the
editorial anticipated. With change in people's living condition and with
the growing number of industries, the consumption of electricity across
Myanmar has significantly increased year after year, calling for more
efforts in the sector for national development and people are urged on
their part to help develop the national economy by improving their
business.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

May 18, Bangkok Post
Burmese firms set up shop in Thailand – King-Oua Laohong

Burmese companies are moving production bases from Rangoon to
Kanchanaburi's Sangkhla Buri district to avoid US and British trade
sanctions.

The firms fear products labelled "Made in Burma" will be rejected abroad,
particularly in the US and Britain, where there are trade sanctions
against the country, said a business owner.
The Hush Puppies shoe-making factory, which employs more than 1,500
workers, is among companies which have relocated from the former Burmese
capital to Kanchanaburi's western border district.

Many others are shifting production to Tak's Mae Sot district, where
several firms from Bangkok, Samut Prakan and Nakhon Pathom have relocated
recently to take advantage of the district's cheaper labour. Most border
factories are dependent on Burmese migrant labour who rent houses on the
Burmese side of the border and cross over to work, the source said.

"The Burmese work in factories on the Thai side and return home after
work. Most have a good education and are skilled," the source said.

They are not illegal workers and have no intention of moving to Bangkok
because they have stable work.

Though they are paid less than the minimum daily wage, their work does not
involve the risks faced by illegal aliens working in big cities. Aye Chan,
a Karen employed in a leather tanning factory in Sangkhla Buri, said she
completed 12th grade in the Karen town of Thanbyuzayat.
She and her younger sister have been crossing the border to work in the
factory for two years and receive 70 baht each a day.

"Our wages here are higher than in Burma," she said. "We are happy working
here and never dream of better paid jobs in Bangkok as we are afraid of
being lured into the flesh trade."

Mya, 23, a Burmese from Moulmein township, said her family was very poor
and could not make ends meet selling wood to Thai traders, so she decided
to work at the tannery to help her family.
A security source said Kanchanaburi not only faces an influx of illegal
alien workers but also has problems involving child sex as gangs prey on
under-age migrant workers, mostly Karen and Mon.

There are at least four brothels operating in the town centre in Sangkhla
Buri and near a bus terminal.

Pinyo Weerasuksawat, a labour activist, said Thailand now has about 1.2
million migrant workers.
The Burmese and Karen mostly work in the fishing industry and related
businesses in Samut Sakhon and Samut Prakan provinces.

Employers protect their illegal workforce by bribing local police to turn
a blind eye, the source said.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

May 17, Reuters
Myanmar proposes road network with China, Bangladesh

Myanmar has proposed expanding a planned road project with Bangladesh to
link up with China in a tri-nation network, a senior foreign ministry
official said on Sunday.

The proposal was made during talks between Bangladesh Foreign Minister
Dipu Moni and her Myanmarese counterpart U Nyan Win in Yangon on Saturday,
he said.

China has friendly relations with both countries and is a major trade
partner. With nearly $2 billion annual exports to Bangladesh it is the
country's largest trade partner after India.

Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a deal in July 2007 to construct a 25 km
road to connect the two countries and construction will begin soon,
officials at the Communication Ministry said.

"Both Myanmar and China are interested to set up the tri-nation road
network," the statement quoted the Myanmar foreign minister as telling his
Bangladesh counterpart.

There is no road linking Bangladesh and Myanmar, although there are two
transit points along the border. Bangladesh will fund the road, most of
which will be inside Myanmar, with only about 2 km in Bangladesh.

Both countries believe that the road will help boost bilateral trade,
currently worth only around $60 million, a spokesman for the Bangladesh
foreign ministry said.

Bangladesh and Myanmar share a 320-km border, partly demarcated by the Naf
river, a regular route for smuggling and illegal crossings by minority
Muslims fleeing what they say is persecution by Myanmar's military junta.

Tension rose between the two usually friendly neighbours last October when
Myanmar started exploring for oil and gas in a disputed area of the Bay of
Bengal, defying protests by Dhaka.

Both countries deployed navy ships but withdrew them when Myanmar halted
the exploration amid intense diplomatic pressure.

More than 20,000 Rohingya Muslims have been living in Bangladesh's Cox's
Bazar district since 1992, after they fled Myanmar's western Arakan state.

____________________________________
ASEAN

May 18, Malaysiakini
Malaysian opposition calls for ASEAN to suspend Burma over Suu Kyi's
detention – Athi Veeranggan

The DAP wants ASEAN to suspend Burma from the regional caucus until
democracy was restored in the country and called on the Malaysian
government to lead the way by expediting the suspension process.

DAP international bureau secretary Liew Chin Tong pointed out that the
latest charge constituted by Rangoon military junta against popular leader
Aung San Suu Kyi for allegedly sheltering an American man who swam to her
home was the last straw for ASEAN member-states to suspend Burma.

"She now faces a fresh charge, trial and possibly a new term of detention.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," said Liew, the
Bukit Bendera member of parliament.

Burma became an ASEAN member in 1997, but Liew believed it was timely to
end the country's membership with the regional grouping.

Liew wants Southeast Asian countries, including Malaysia, to engage in
constructive deliberations on the happenings in Burma and suspend the
country immediately from ASEAN.

The 63-year-old Suu Kyi faces up to five years in jail if convicted on the
charge, which would keep her behind bars during controversial elections
planned by Burma's generals for next year.

Suu Kyi is been held under house arrest since her National League for
Democracy won a landslide in 1990 in Burma's first multi-party elections
in 30 years.

Following this, thousands had marched peacefully through the streets of
Rangoon demanding her freedom.

A move to keep her detained

Recalling this, Liew said the 'saffron revolution' was a testament to the
power of peaceful opposition, a sign of strength on the part of the
Burmese people who erstwhile had let their voices of dissent remain
silent.

"The subjugation experienced by a nation ruled by a violent and oppressive
military junta was witnessed by the virtually powerless international
community.

"The military junta's extreme restrictions on foreign aid and intervention
saw the people of Myanmar (Burma) suffer explicitly," he said in a
statement.

Blaming the tight control on key industries by military-run enterprises,
Liew said corruption and mismanagement have become traits of Burma's
black-market driven economy.

He expressed dismay that Suu Kyi, a legitimate leader of Burmese
non-governing ruling party, was arrested for breaching the conditions of
her detention under house arrest, which she had endured for past 19 years.

He pointed her detention was due to expire at the end of this month, but
now she faces a fresh charge just days before her freedom.

"The move is a pretext to keep Suu Kyi detained until the elections in
2010," he added.

____________________________________

May 18, Business Mirror (Philippines)
Asean tackles Suu Kyi detention, new charges – Estrella Torres

THE Thai government, now chair of the Association of the Southeast Asian
Nations (Asean), has called on the Asean member Burma/Myanmar’s military
junta to release Nobel peace laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and called for
transparency of the legal proceedings on new charges filed against the
long detained prodemocracy leader.

But Thai foreign minister Kasit Piromya said, “Thailand would not take any
action or measure to pressure” Myanmar, adding that Thailand and Myanmar
were “friends who should be able to reason with each other, and that
Myanmar should be aware of its responsibilities and the expectations of
the international community.”

In any case, he said a meeting of Asean senior officials might be held to
discuss the issue on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit Senior
Officials Meeting in Phuket on May 19.

Kasit said their ambassador in Rangoon, renamed Yangon by the military
dictatorship, and former capital of the country, is now in consultations
with other Asean ambassadors to discuss how to press for the release of
Suu Kyi, who has been detained for 13 of the last 20 years.

At the same time, he had conveyed his concerns on the health problems of
Suu Kyi and the need to provide her with medical services.

He pointed to the chairman’s statement at the 14th Asean Summit in
Thailand this year: “Asean encourages the Myanmar government to facilitate
the national reconciliation process to be more inclusive so as to
strengthen national unity, thereby contributing to peace and prosperity in
Myanmar.”

Kasit said his government “had to express its views given its role as
Asean chair and the fact that as a democratic country, the Thai Government
needed to inform the public about its stand.”

Asean has been calling for the release of Suu Kyi, but the regional bloc
could not impose sanctions on Burma’s military rulers due to its policy of
constructive engagement and not interference.

At the weekend, Manila’s Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo issued a
statement expressing the Philippine government’s “sense of outrage” at the
latest charges slapped on Suu Kyi, for which, if convicted, she could be
jailed for an additional five years. She was due to be released soon after
serving her last sentence. From house arrest, she was whisked off to the
infamous Insein Prison recently on the new charge, for allegedly violating
the terms of her detention after an unidentified American man supposedly
swam across the lake to her home and stayed there two days.

Malaysian MP Lim Kit Siang, vice-president of the AIPMC and DAP Malaysia
parliamentary leader, said, “The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak,
should lead Malaysia and Asean to pressure the Myanmar military junta to
release Burmese democracy icon and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi
to prove to the world that the Asean Charter is no ‘whitewash’ for the
most egregious human rights violations in Myanmar.”

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in a statement said, “I am deeply
disturbed that Aung San Suu Kyi may be charged with breaching the terms of
her detention. The Burmese regime is clearly intent on finding any
pretext, no matter how tenuous, to extend her unlawful detention. The real
injustice, the real illegality, is that she is still detained in the first
place.”

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told the parliament, “It is
Australia’s longstanding position—shared by the governments of both
political persuasions—that [Suu Kyi] should be released immediately and
unconditionally, and I repeat that today.”

Chairman Howard L. Berman and ranking member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of the
United States House Foreign Affairs Committee called on the military
government of Burma to release Suu Kyi, “who was brought before a Burmese
court on short notice and sent to prison.”

Norway’s Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store said the Norwegian government
“is concerned about the reports of the arrest” of Suu Kyi and wants her
released. Norway has repeatedly stated that “the regime in Burma must
release Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners.”

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

May 18, Reuters
EU says ready to toughen sanctions on Myanmar

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Monday that the European
Union should consider toughening sanctions on Myanmar over its treatment
of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi who faces trial on charges that
could lock her up for five years.

"It's not the moment to lower sanctions, it's the moment in any case to
increase them," he said ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers. "I
don't think there will be any lowering of sanctions, on the contrary," he
added.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout said EU member states were ready to
discuss the sanctions, noting that the they had renewed the sanctions on
the military government in April.

"We are ready to discuss the reinforcement of the sanctions. We will see
what will be the level of discussion and the willingness of member states
too. We are ready to move forward," he said.

The military regime has ignored international outrage at what critics call
trumped-up charges against Suu Kyi, accused of breaking the conditions of
her house arrest, which had been due to expire on May 27 after six years
of detention.

____________________________________

May 16, Agence France Presse
Obama extends Myanmar sanctions

President Barack Obama on Friday formally extended US sanctions against
Myanmar, keeping up pressure on the junta at the height of its new
showdown with detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

"I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency
with respect to Burma and maintain in force the sanctions against Burma to
respond to this threat," Obama said in a message to Congress.

The move, which had been previewed last month by US officials and was
merely a formality, comes despite an official US review of policy on
Myanmar, also known as Burma.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that she wants to find a
"better way" to sway Myanmar's military leaders.

Foreign ministers of the European Union last month also extended their
sanctions against Myanmar for another year, but said they were ready to
ease them and hold talks if there was democratic progress.

The junta has kept Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for nearly 20
years. The Nobel peace laureate led her party to victory in 1990 but the
junta never allowed the election to stand.

Myanmar was under intense international pressure Friday to free Aung San
Suu Kyi after she was imprisoned ahead of a new trial next week for
breaching the terms of her house arrest.

The United States and the United Nations led calls for the immediate
release of the 63-year-old, whose trial is due to start in jail on Monday.

The junta took Aung San Suu Kyi from her home on Thursday to Yangon's
notorious Insein prison, where she was charged over a bizarre incident in
which an American man swam to her lakeside residence.

____________________________________

May 18, Associated Press
French minister denounces trial of peace laureate – Scott Sayare

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner denounced the trial of Aung San
Suu Kyi on Monday, as activists rallied in Paris in support of Myanmar's
pro-democracy leader.

"All of this is exasperating," said Kouchner, calling the trial a
"scandalous provocation" and a "pretext" by the ruling military junta to
neutralize a major political opponent before upcoming elections.

Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory in Myanmar's democratic elections
in 1990, but the ruling military government refused to honor the result.
The Nobel laureate has spent more than 13 of the last 19 years in
government-ordered detention.

Suu Kyi went on trial Monday on charges she violated conditions of her
most recent detention by sheltering an American who swam to her lakeside
home this month. Scheduled for release from house arrest at the end of
May, she now faces up to five years' imprisonment.

In Paris, demonstrators gathered near the Myanmar embassy to condemn the
trial. Protesters, some brandishing red and yellow flags reading "Freedom
for Myanmar," included representatives of Amnesty International, French
women's rights advocates and Myanmar nationals.

"All of this is utter manipulation by the junta," said Khin Zin Minn, an
activist who immigrated from Myanmar to France in 2002.

Like some of the other Paris protesters, Minn suggested that John William
Yettaw the U.S. citizen who swam to Suu Kyi's home had been encouraged to
do so by the Myanmar government.

British-born actress and singer Jane Birkin, a longtime supporter of
Myanmar's pro-democracy movement concurred, saying the incident "fell like
bread from the sky for the military junta."

Another Paris demonstrator, former opposition politician Maung Hla Aung,
called the trial "an insult to the whole Burmese population."

He said Suu Kyi represents the "the sole hope" for human rights in
Myanmar, which has been ruled by its military since 1962.

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May 18, Irrawaddy
Facebook campaign organizes support for Suu Kyi – Min Lwin

Burmese living abroad have launched a campaign for the release of
democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on Facebook, the popular Internet
social-networking Web site.

According to the Landon-based Burma Campaign UK, as of Sunday 40,000
people has registered their support on a Facebook site.

“Facebook is an excellent way to reach people and let them know about Aung
San Suu Kyi and the situation in Burma,” said Johnny Chatterton, a
campaigns officer at Burma Campaign UK. “We are able to use Facebook to
translate sympathy into action.”

The Suu Kyi page is being used to promote and coordinate global campaign
actions, including a global day of action on Monday, when demonstrations
will take place in more than a dozen cities, including London, Bangkok,
Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Canberra, Taipei, Barcelona, Paris, Stockholm,
Ottawa, Barcelona, Cadiz, Sevilla, and Kuala Lumpur. (see: Aung San Suu
Kyi Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aung-San-Suu-Kyi/9953503420?ref=pdb)

Facebook is increasingly popular among Burmese in exile for social
networking and the promotion of Burma causes. Several Burmese activists
and campaign groups in the West and in the region also use Facebook to
promote Burma.

In September 2007 when monks led a pro-democracy uprising in Burma, the
campaign on Facebook registered several hundred thousand people.

Observers recently warned that the regime monitors Facebook to trace and
identify activists.

Facebook is a free-access social networking Web site; Internet users can
join networks organized by city, workplace, school or other venues that
connect people with like-minded interests.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

May 18, The Nation (Thailand): Burma's jailing of Suu Kyi is a test for
both Asean and Surin – Kavi Chongkittavorn

IN THE PAST FEW DAYS, world leaders after leaders, governments after
governments, as well as Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore have expressed
concern over the plight of opposition party leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. They
have done that several times since the 1990's, in response to Burma's
frequently used tactics. One question remains: What is the next course of
action?

The Burmese junta understands well its latest scheme - adding charges
against her for breaking house-arrest terms for allowing an American
intruder to stay - would anger the international community and further
harden their positions. That was exactly what Rangoon would like to see
happening. The harder the position is outside the country, the better the
regime is able to garner support from its rank and file. All members of
Burma's military, the Tatmadaw, must stay united to ward off foreign
threats.

Furthermore, the frustration helps highlight the prevailing hypocrisy
deeply rooted in the overall approaches taken by various players on Burma.
Despite strong and sustained condemnation by the international community,
the UN Security Council's permanent members have not yet intervened in the
Burmese situation. Thus far China and Russia have vetoed any move in that
direction. The Rangoon regime continues quite effectively to hold the
council hostage, playing off one power against the other.

For China more than for other council members, Burma matters the most. Its
rich mineral and energy resources with unique strategic land-bridge to the
Indian Ocean have placed the country on Beijing's premium list. Unlike its
highly visible collaborative spirit in the North Korean nuclear crisis,
Beijing has not yet shown any willingness to persuade Burma to become more
resilient. One contributing factor is the absence of common threats in the
case of Burma. The perceived nuclear threat brought by Pyongyang's
military ambition is equally shared by all council members. That was not
the case for Burma at this juncture. Any change of status quo there could
bring political uncertainty and further undermine Beijing's preeminent
position.


>From September 2005 onward, former world leaders and Nobel laureates have

repeatedly urged the council's members to intervene, arguing that the
situation in Burma affects international peace and security. Somehow, it
has not been recognised as such by UN members, even though similar
arguments worked very well in the situations in Sierra Leone or
Afghanistan or Sudan.

Asean has to take the blame for harbouring such an attitude. The grouping
has suffered internal bleeding after Burma gained admission in 1997
without conditions. For the past 12 years, this pariah state has failed to
contribute to the collective well-being and reputation of the Asean
family. The absence of responsibility to protect its citizens and
minorities has caused widespread regional problems, for instance in
cross-border human trafficking and internal displacements. Rangoon's
constant denials regarding the Rohingya asylum seekers are just one
example.

Indifference by Asean of Burma's intransigence cannot continue forever
because the Asean Charter came into force last December. Obviously, the
principle of non-interference is still very much alive in framing member's
behaviour and collective responses. But the charter does give room for the
Asean leaders to act with discretion regarding sanctions against their own
peers' non-compliance and collective irresponsibility. The question is
being asked today: who will take the lead?

As the Asean chair in 2007, Singapore went extra miles to express
"revulsion" against the regime's violent repression. Last week, Thailand,
the current chair, called for an end of Suu Kyi's detention after the
current term expires later this month. That was Bangkok's strongest
position on Burma since the Thaksin government's pro-Rangoon policy set in
early 2001. Both Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Foreign Minister
Kasit Piromya have expressed deep concern over Suu Kyi's situation.
Thailand, as the grouping's frontline state, wanted and needed to do more.
The Abhisit- government was supposed to take a fresh lead on Burma but
political turmoil and the aborted Pattaya summit prematurely weakened such
endeavour. In days ahead, Thailand would require extraordinary moral
courage together with Abhisit's leadership to take up this challenge. Does
he have what it takes to tackle Burma head-on as his predecessor, former
prime minister Chuan Leekpai, did in 1997-2000? We will find out sooner
than later.

Within hours after the Cyclone Nargis hit the Irrawaddy Delta last May,
Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan initiated the leading role of Asean
in relief and rescue missions there. He took extraordinary steps, using
the grouping's and his influence and networks to assist Burma's recovery.

Now with an expanded mandate and responsibility under the Asean Charter
and the Cha-am chairman's statement, will Surin be able to duplicate this
effort to the current political crisis and garner Burma's cooperation? The
international community has very high, perhaps unrealistic, expectations
of Surin's authority and leadership to help free Suu Kyi. Can he push the
envelope? Certainly, he can, but at his own peril unless he receives
backing from the rest of Asean's leaders. One more time international and
regional players have to face the same dilemma - which course of action to
take on Burma. Last week, the Obama Administration renewed for another
year the 1997 law banning US investments in Burma. Washington's review of
policy on Burma would take several more weeks as appointments of key
officials related to East Asia remain incomplete. The EU has continued
with its current sanction regime and pledged to ease it in response to
genuine progress inside Burma, such as the release of political prisoners,
including Suu Kyi.

For over two decades, the Burmese people have risen to the occasion
defending their democratic dream, however distant it might be today. The
Saffron Revolution in September 2007 demonstrated their courage to
continue fighting the dictators. In their hearts, they know the case
against Suu Kyi is unjust.

The trial and subsequent decision could spark off fresh protests and
disturbances once again in days ahead, especially in time of economic
difficulties. High commodity and gasoline prices caused public outcries
that eventually led to street demonstrations in 2007. Perhaps, as the
international community ponders various options, the Burmese people could
show the way.

____________________________________

May 18, Wall Street Journal
The Trial of Aung San Suu Kyi: How will the world react to the injustice?
– Jared Genser and Meghan Barron

After spending 14 of the past 19 years under house arrest, Aung San Suu
Kyi, Burma's ailing pro-democracy opposition leader, now sits in the
military junta's Insein prison, notorious for its filth, disease, and the
mental and physical torture deployed against its prisoners. She faces a
five-year prison sentence if convicted of breaching the terms of her house
arrest because a stranger swam across a lake and broke into her
dilapidated home.

The new charge is a sign of how seriously the junta takes the threat to
its power posed by Ms. Suu Kyi's peaceful activism. Her detention without
charge or trial for being a "threat to the sovereignty and security of the
State" was scheduled to reach what the junta had described as its maximum
length on May 27. But the junta needed a pretext to keep her under lock
and key during next year's so-called elections, and bizarre events
provided one.

So in her trial it won't matter that the junta has exclusive
responsibility to provide security at her residence. Nor will it make a
difference that she did not know or invite into her home American John
Yettaw, described by people who know him as eccentric but peaceloving, who
allegedly wanted to talk to Ms. Suu Kyi as part of his research on
forgiveness and resilience.

That the detention she supposedly violated has been repeatedly recognized
by the United Nations as unlawful under both international and Burmese law
won't affect the outcome either. To compound the injustice, the junta has
also charged the mother and daughter who live with Ms. Suu Kyi and her
physician with various offenses that could land them in prison for years.

Ms. Suu Kyi's case matters, and not only because she is a Nobel Peace
Prize Laureate. Her situation is representative of the suffering of the 22
million people of Burma under an authoritarian and indept junta. There are
few regimes in the world as illegitimate and cruel as General Than Shwe's.
When the world fails to stand up for Ms. Suu Kyi, it fails the oppressed
Burmese people.

Since Ms. Suu Kyi was first detained before Burma's 1990 elections, more
than 3,000 villages have been destroyed as the military has waged a
relentless campaign of killing, torture and rape against ethnic
minorities, as reported by Human Rights Watch. One million refugees have
fled to neighboring countries while hundreds of thousands of internally
displaced persons struggle to subsist in primitive jungle conditions. Rape
is systematically employed as a weapon of war against ethnic minority
women, according to groups such as the Shan Women's Action Network. Last
year when Burma was devastated by Cyclone Nargis, the international
community had to beg the Burmese junta to allow it to save the
government's own people.

Ms. Suu Kyi will stand trial today and given the junta's record to date,
it is highly doubtful justice will be served. So the real question is how
the world will react. Will it do more than simply condemn the junta's
actions? Will U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon take decisive action by
traveling to Burma and demanding to meet with General Than Shwe? Will the
Security Council do more than issue another mealy mouthed statement, and
instead proactively press for national reconciliation in Burma?

Ms. Suu Kyi once said, "please use your liberty to promote ours." We
outside Burma have not served her well to date, but she and her people
need us now more than ever.

Mr. Genser and Ms. Barron, lawyers with Freedom Now in Washington, D.C.,
represent Ms. Suu Kyi.

____________________________________

May 17, Boston Globe
The junta's pretext – Editorial

THERE IS no end to the viciousness of the military dictatorship that rules
Burma. The generals' latest outrage was the arrest last week of Nobel
Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi on charges she violated terms of her
house arrest. Suu Kyi had only taken pity on an eccentric American who
swam across a lake to her bungalow and asked to be allowed to stay
overnight, pleading fatigue.

There is no mystery about the junta's aim in holding Suu Kyi responsible
for an incident its own security forces should have prevented. Her
five-year house arrest is set to end May 27. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton went to the heart of the matter Thursday when she declared US
opposition to "the regime's efforts to use this incident as a pretext to
place further unjustified restrictions on her." The next step is for US
policymakers to realize there are no junta moderates to engage with, and
that sanctions on the generals must be kept in place.

The junta wants to keep the leader of Burma's democracy movement
incarcerated beyond May 27 because it fears her ability to rally voters to
her National League for Democracy, should the party decide to contest a
dubious election the generals are planning to hold next year.

Former archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and other fellow Nobel
laureates have spoken out forcefully for Suu Kyi's freedom, and for the
freedom of Burma's 2,100 other political prisoners. But the parties with
the best chance of convincing the junta to relent are members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Japan, and especially China. The
Obama administration should be lobbying those countries to use their
commercial clout in Burma to demand that the junta release Suu Kyi.

____________________________________

May 11, New York Times
Monks, tanks and videotape – John Anderson

HE lives in Thailand now, largely because he doesn’t think he could hold
up under torture. “I’m not sure how much I could keep secrets,” said the
slight, shaggy-haired, 27-year-old Burmese video journalist, who is
considered a public enemy by his country’s military junta.

Should his admission make him seem less than courageous, consider “Burma
VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country.” Directed by Anders Ostergaard of
Denmark and opening on Wednesday at Film Forum in New York, the
documentary chronicles the work of the Burmese journalist and his team of
guerrilla cameramen during the “saffron revolution” of 2007, in which
robed Buddhist monks joined street protests against Myanmar’s military
dictatorship. Connected through cellphones and e-mail, shooting
clandestinely on minicams and smuggling footage out of the country by
courier, the Internet and satellite hookups, the correspondents for the
Democratic Voice of Burma (a television station in exile based in Oslo)
not only exposed the totalitarian character of the Myanmar authorities to
world scrutiny, they revealed the future of war reporting. It’s no wonder
that at the recent Hot Docs film festival here, the journalist appeared in
a hat, oversize sunglasses and a scarf, seldom looking up and not posing
for pictures.

He is under orders from his bosses. “It is also the position of management
that he not go back to Burma,” said Khin Maung Win, the deputy executive
director of the Democratic Voice of Burma. At the moment the journalist,
whose safety depends on his anonymity, is too busy accompanying the film,
which has traveled from the Sundance Film Festival to New York, Washington
and Toronto, where on this day in early May he appeared with Mr.
Ostergaard and Khin Maung Win (on a panel sponsored by Hot Docs and the
Canadian nongovernmental organization Rights & Democracy). The next day he
left for Ottawa to lobby the Canadian Parliament for financial and
political support for the Democratic Voice of Burma.

“Burma VJ,” distributed by Oscilloscope (owned by Adam Yauch, one of the
Beastie Boys), has also been adopted by the current Czech leadership of
the European Union in its campaign for human rights. “Vaclav Havel
presented the film to Hillary Clinton when Obama was in Prague,” a
slightly amused Mr. Ostergaard said. “I’ve just been adjusting to what has
been completely unexpected. Mind you, I was going to make a 30-minute
portrait of Joshua” — the journalist’s pseudonym — “then all kinds of
things happened.”
What happened was the near-spontaneous uprising of summer ’07, incited by
a doubling of gas prices, the arrest of the labor activist Su Su Nway and
a people fed up. In an early sequence of the film a taxi driver says he’ll
join whatever demonstrations should erupt, and his candidness is a
tip-off. “This never happens,” the journalist says. The sense is that a
pressure cooker is about to blow, which it does.

For Mr. Ostergaard it was total coincidence. He had been approached by his
producer, Lise Lens-Moller, to make a film on Myanmar (the former Burma),
and had been put in touch with Democratic Voice of Burma journalists in
Bangkok, where they were given camera and situation training. Then events
upended their plans.

As explained in an opening subtitle, “Burma VJ” contains certain
embellishments, a connective tissue of sorts that sets up and links
together the V.J.-shot sequences of monks, marches, police beatings and
one point-blank murder of a Japanese journalist. The street scenes are
real; the setups are not. While dramatically effective, such techniques
cause documentary purists to recoil. But Mr. Ostergaard offers no
apologies.

“I’m absolutely convinced there was no way to tell this story without
re-enactments,” Mr. Ostergaard said. “Not only visually but on the
soundtrack. The cellphone conversations obviously weren’t recorded at the
time. In fact, the V.J.’s wouldn’t have conversations while they were
shooting. This is a cinematic distillation. But the content is authentic
in the sense that we have the real guys telling each other what they told
each other at the time.”

Moviemaking philosophy aside, “Burma VJ” provides powerful evidence of the
new ways in which oppression can be documented and world opinion swayed.
“Technology is on our side,” said Micheline Lévesque, Asia specialist for
Rights and Democracy. She said reports on human-rights violations, when
done outside a country like Myanmar, are routinely ignored by countries
that want to continue doing business with an oppressive regime. It’s
harder to argue with a “Burma VJ” and the technology it champions, the
eventual influence of which may be enormous. “Tibet is very interested,”
Ms. Lévesque said, “and other movements in other countries are looking to
what’s happening in Burma to use in their own movements.”

“Burma VJ” will eventually show on HBO (“It’s free in Burma,” said Khin
Maung Win, smiling, “because everyone gets it off the satellite dish”),
which will be both a boon to the Burmese cause and also a window into a
new political world. “It’s as much a story about technology as it is about
courage,” said Sheila Nevins, president of HBO’s documentary unit, for
whom the Burmese V.J.’s evoked Sophie Scholl and the university students
of the White Rose movement of ’40s Munich. “The only way they could get
information out was to make leaflets on a machine and throw them all over
the university,” she said. “And of course they got caught. And beheaded.
But you go forward a hundred years, you have a situation in film where two
cellphones talk to each other, and it’s impossible for a military
dictatorship to keep secrets.

“Can you imagine,” Ms. Nevins added, “if someone had smuggled a camera
into a concentration camp?”

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INTERVIEW

May 18, The Nation (Thailand)
Thailand urges Burma to achieve political process acceptable to all

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva talks to CNN on various issues
including Thai politics, economy as well as Burma.

On Aung San Suu Kyi:

PM Abhisit : We are concerned.  For one thing the state of her health is
of concern itself and secondly we have encouraged, you know, asked Asean,
Myanmar (Burma), to continue on her roadmap to achieve a political process
which is inclusive and therefore be acceptable to everybody, the
international community included.

Coren : The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said this is just an
excuse to try and keep her in detention for longer.  Do you share those
views?

PM Abhisit: I won't make any personal assessments.  I can say that I am
concerned and I would like to see this issue resolved and that Myanmar is
able to deliver on her pledge to implement a roadmap.