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Saturday May 20
2:47 AM ET
Myanmar Lambastes Albright Over Democracy Comments YANGON, Myanmar (Reuters) - Myanmar on Saturday accused Secretary of State Madeleine Albright of misunderstanding its process of democratization and said she should be more responsible in what she says about the country. ``Myanmar urges Ms. Albright to contribute in a realistic and responsible way in Myanmar's present democratization process,'' said a statement issued by the government spokesman. The United States on Tuesday marked the 10th anniversary of aborted elections in Myanmar by endorsing the struggle for democracy in the military-ruled Southeast Asian state. Albright called on Yangon to respect the democratic wishes of its people and renewed a commitment of support to opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy. ``The Government of Myanmar is in fact determined and committed to fulfill the aspirations of the people of Myanmar and is working hard to develop Myanmar and transform the country from a one-party socialism to a stable and functioning democracy,'' the statement said. It gave no details of how or when the regime would abandon military rule but said it could not be done immediately. ``Demanding immediate changes and pressuring a country to transform itself into a functioning democracy overnight, we fear, would lead not to a stable democracy, but to its institutional confusion, social chaos, and political crisis, which we all are trying to avoid,'' the statement said. Suu Kyi, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, heads the National League for Democracy, which won 392 of the 485 seats contested in the 1990 election, which was annulled by the military rulers. In a video of opposition activists filmed to mark the 10th anniversary of the election Suu Kyi said the Myanmar people had a right to democracy. ``Democracy is based on human values... It has nothing to do with western values or Asian values --- West, East it makes no difference,'' she said in the video, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters. The United States imposes sanctions on the impoverished state, condemns human rights abuses there and, with mixed success, urges other countries in the region to isolate the military rulers until they adopt democratic reforms. The Myanmar junta has also urged political parties to work with the government to achieve common objectives. Saturday, May 20 6:30 PM SGT
Singapore Newspaper National: Fined for harbouring illegals PETALING JAYA, Fri. - A company director was fined RM195,000 by the magistrate's court today for harbouring 39 illegal immigrants at a launderette. Kok Wang @ Kok Weng, 47, pleaded guilty to 39 counts of harbouring the immigrants at Speedwash Sdn Bhd, Lot 1076, Jalan Jejarum, Kg Sg Kayu Ara, Damansara about 4.30pm on Oct 6 last year. Magistrate Norhayati Mat fined him RM5,000 on each count. The 39 illegals were 15 Indonesians, eight Indians, nine Nepalese, four Bangladeshi and three Myanmar. In mitigation, counsel R. Tirukumaran said Kok had four children and repented his action. Besides his client's business was not very good. Prosecuting officer Shahul Hamid Abdul Rahim said the offence by Kok was serious and called for a deterrent. Saturday, May 20
4:43 AM SGT
Myanmar Opposition Asks for Help BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - In a video marking the 10th anniversary of Myanmar's thwarted election results, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi renewed her call for international help in the struggle for democracy in her country. Suu Kyi, head of the National League for Democracy, made the appeal in a videotape smuggled out of Myanmar, where she and her party suffer serious repression by the military government. The video was released Saturday by a Bangkok-based pro-democracy group, Altsean-Burma, to mark the 10th anniversary of Myanmar's last election, on May 27, 1990. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won a landslide victory in that election, but the military refused to allow parliament to convene, and still rules the country, also known as Burma, with an iron hand. It has set no date for the transfer of power to an elected government. The videotape shows Suu Kyi interviewing members of a self-styled 10-member surrogate parliament set up by her party, including Aye Tha Aung, who was arrested late last month, after the tape was made. In the tape, Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, calls on the international community to support her party's pro-democracy drive, saying, ``We believe strongly that democracy is based on universal values.'' ``It has nothing to do with Western values or Asian values. West, East, it makes no difference. Democracy is based on human values. We want democracy because our people want freedom, security and the right to balance,'' she said. The more international support the pro-democracy movement receives, ``the sooner we shall achieve our goal,'' Suu Kyi said. ``It is important to achieve our goal quickly because our people are suffering too much.'' Friday, May 19
11:33 PM SGT
Myanmar Court Sentences Bangkok Embassy Raider To Death YANGON, Myanmar (AP)-- A Myanmar anti-government militant who assisted in the takeover of his country's embassy in Thailand last year has been sentenced to death by a court in Yangon, Myanmar state radio reported Friday night. The report said Saw Tin Oo, who accompanied the group which took over the Bangkok Embassy but was detained outside it by Thai police, was sentenced by Yangon Eastern District court Thursday. The court sentenced Saw Tin Oo under a statute which calls for the death penalty when high treason is committed outside Myanmar's borders. It said Saw Tin Oo had been arrested in the town of Myawaddy, on the border with Thailand, March 1 after being expelled from Thailand Feb. 29. Five former students rebels armed with AK-47s and grenades took over the embassy Oct. 1 and 2 last year, before releasing all 38 hostages in return for safe passage by helicopter to the Thai-Myanmar border. The embassy raiders said they were members of a group called the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors. After the embassy takeover, members of the student warriors took refuge with another fringe Myanmar rebel group, God's Army, commanded by twin 12-year-old boys. The Myanmar radio report said that Saw Tin Oo was a member of both the student warriors and God's Army. It also said he had joined a mainstream rebel group, the Karen National Union, in 1985. The report said he was sentenced on two charges in addition to treason, receiving three years imprisonment for membership in an unlawful organization and five years for violating the immigration act. Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi appeals for democracy 20 May 2000 01:32GMT BANGKOK, May 20 (Reuters) - Ten years after Myanmar's military government ignored the result of democratic polls, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has appealed for international support for political change in her country. In a video of opposition activists filmed to mark the 10th anniversary of Myanmar's only recent general election, Suu Kyi said the Myanmar people had a right to democracy, which she said was based on universal values. "Democracy is based on human values," Suu Kyi said in the video taken by supporters of her opposition National League for Democracy (NLD). "It has nothing to do with western values or Asian values -- West, east, it makes no difference." The NLD won the May 27, 1990 election by a landslide, taking 392 of the 485 seats in parliament. But the party has never been allowed to govern. Instead members of parliament elected at the polls and other opposition supporters have been jailed, placed under house arrest or restricted by the ruling generals, who say the country is not ready for democracy. Suu Kyi and her party have run a high-profile but so far unsuccessful campaign to bring change to the country and the military government appears as firmly in power as ever. Western governments have generally supported the NLD and several countries have imposed various sanctions against Yangon. But many Asian governments, particularly neighbouring countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and the countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), have adopted a policy of "constructive engagement". "OUR PEOPLE WANT FREEDOM" Many Asian nations argue keeping the lines of communications with Myanmar open will eventually promote change. The NLD say the policy has just bolstered the government and prolonged their struggle for democracy. "At this time 10 years from the date that the Burmese (Myanmar) people went to the polls in high hopes that their desire for a democratic government would be realised, we are still struggling for parliament to be convened," Suu Kyi said. "The members of parliament who were elected in 1990 have not been given a chance to carry out their responsibilities and we are working for the day when they will be allowed to perform their duties as elected representatives of the people." "We would like to ask the international community to support our efforts. We would particularly like to request the peoples of our region to support our efforts," she said. In an apparent reference to the presence recently at a regional meeting in Yangon of Japanese ministers and officials, Suu Kyi sent a "special message to the people of Japan". "We know that the people of Japan bear (us) goodwill. We would not like that goodwill to be manipulated by those who want to use it for their own ends," she said. Embassy raider gets death sentence RANGOON – An antigovernment protestor who allegedly helped take over the Burmese
embassy in Bangkok last year has been sentenced to death by a Burmese court,
Burma’s statecontrolled newspaper reported yesterday.
Saw Tin Oo, who was detained by the Thai police outside the Burmese Embassy amid the hostage crisis last October, was sentenced for treason by the Rangoon East District Court on Thursday, The New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported. Thai immigration officials released Saw Tin Oo on February 29. But he was arrested the following day by Burmese authorities in Myawaddy, across from Mae Sot district. “The authorities had been tracking the terrorists who seized the embassy,” and members of the Defence Services Intelligence arrested Saw Tin Oo in the town of Myawaddy on March 1, the report said. Human Rights Watch Asia said Thai authorities took five Burmese from Bangkok in February to the Friendship Bridge linking Mae Sot with Myawaddy. The men were then deported to Burma, then met on the other side by Burmese authorities and later incarcerated, the human rights organisation claimed. “It’s very distressing to get this news because there has been no clear proof that this person, Saw Tin Oo, was directly involved in the hostagetaking incident. It also goes to show that any Burmese dissident deported to the border is being placed in danger,” said Debbie Strothard, director of AltSean, a Southeast Asiabased human rights organisation. According to Strothard, the Burmese government is using the death sentence to scare off any planned protests for the upcoming 10th anniversary of the landslide election victory by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, which was ignored by the military. The newspaper report said Saw Tin Oo was sentenced on two charges in addition to treason, receiving three years imprisonment for membership of an unlawful organisation and five years for violating the immigration act. Courts in Burma are not believed to have sentenced anyone to death for treason in recent years, although they have handed down death sentences to drug traffickers. But death sentences are rarely, if ever, carried out. The embassy raiders said they were members of a group called the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors (VBSW). The group was believed to have about a dozen members and was apparently formed for the specific purpose of carrying out the embassy raid. Armed with AK47 assault rifles and grenades, they took over the embassy for 22 hours before releasing more than three dozen hostages in return for safe passage by helicopter to the ThaiBurmese border. After the drama, the VBSW members took refuge with another fringe rebel group called God’s Army, allegedly led by twin 12yearold boys believed to have mystical powers. Members of both groups were suspected of taking part in a raid on Ratchaburi hospital in eastern Thailand in January, allegedly staged to publicise artillery attacks by the Thai and Burmese military on civilians living at their camp. Thai commandos stormed the hospital in a predawn raid and killed all 10 hostagetakers. At least one of the hospital raiders was identified by Thai authorities as being among the group which took over the embassy. The New Light of Myanmar account said Saw Tin Oo was a member of both the VBSW and God’s Army, which it claimed he joined in 1997. It said he had previously joined a mainstream rebel group, the Karen National Union, in 1985. The ThaiBurmese border has been the base of a number of resistance movements. Many members are former university students who fled Burma after the military staged a brutal crackdown on prodemocracy demonstrators in 1988. The Nation, Associated Press |