BurmaNet News, August 12, 2009

[Editor]

August 12, 2009 Issue #3774


INSIDE BURMA
AP: Myanmar's Suu Kyi begins house arrest amid outrage
New Light of Myanmar: Judgments pronounced for Criminal Regular Trials
against US Citizen Mr John William Yettaw, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Daw Khin
Khin Win and Ma Win Ma Ma

BUSINESS / TRADE
AFP: Total targeted in debate over Myanmar sanctions

ASEAN
Malaysia Star: Increasing calls for Asean to boot out Myanmar

REGIONAL
Times of London: China calls on West to 'respect' new detention of Aung
San Suu Kyi
AFP: Indonesia restricts meeting of Myanmar exiles

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: UN silent as Suu Kyi moves to appeal verdict
AP: 4 UN experts to Myanmar: Free Aung San Suu Kyi
South Africa Press Association: South Africa condemns Suu Kyi’s conviction

OPINION / OTHER
New York Times: Pressuring the Burmese junta – Jared Lutken
Irrawaddy: Than Shwe vindicated again – Aung Zaw
Washington Post: Allies for Aung San Suu Kyi
Newsweek: The conviction of Burma's opposition leader doesn't show
clemency or compromise; it's a sign of the regime's desperation – Melinda
Liu

STATEMENT
National Democratic Institute: NDI condemns conviction of Aung San Suu Kyi
Office of the White House Press Secretary: Statement by the President on
Aung San Suu Kyi’s conviction and sentencing
Brazil Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Sentence against Madam Aung San Suu Kyi
Federal Ministry for Austria: Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger on the
conviction of Nobel Peace Prize laureate
New Light of Myanmar: Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council
issues directive dated 10 August 2009 for Ministry of Home Affairs stating
upon Court pronouncing sentence to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, sentence to be
served by her under Criminal Procedure Code be amended to be remitted and
suspended if she displays good conduct and pardon be granted accordingly



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

August 12, Associated Press
Myanmar's Suu Kyi begins house arrest amid outrage

Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi awoke at her lakeside home
Wednesday to begin the first full day of her latest house arrest,
following her globally condemned conviction that lawyers said they would
promptly appeal.

Only China — Myanmar's top trading partner and key ally — asked the world
to accept the decision.

"The international community should fully respect Myanmar's judicial
sovereignty," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement
Wednesday. He said China hopes Myanmar can "gradually realize stability,
democracy and development."

Suu Kyi, a 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was convicted Tuesday
by a Myanmar court of violating her previous house arrest by allowing an
uninvited American who swam to her home to stay for two days. She has
already spent 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest — but Tuesday
marked her first conviction.

Suu Kyi now begins 18 more months in detention behind a new barbed-wire
fence that was erected at the lakeside entrance to her home, where
American John Yettaw had entered.

She was initially sentenced to three years in prison with hard labor, but
it was quickly reduced to 18 months of house arrest by the military-ruled
country's chief, Senior Gen. Than Shwe. That will remove her from the
political scene next year when the junta plans to hold its first elections
since 1990, when her party won overwhelmingly but was never allowed to
take power.

Suu Kyi's lawyers said they would appeal the conviction immediately and
were applying for permission to visit her.

Later Wednesday, witnesses said a group of her lawyers visited her home.
They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

According to the regulations for her new house arrest, Suu Kyi can receive
visitors at her home only with permission from authorities.

The country's state-run newspapers, which many normally don't bother to
read, were sold out Wednesday with people eager to learn about the
verdict.

"I am not surprised that (Suu Kyi) was sentenced to three years because
that is what the government wants to do, keep her locked up during the
elections," said Soe Nyunt, a 34-year-old grocery shop owner.

"It was at least a relief that Daw Suu is kept in her house. I had thought
the government would keep her inside Insein prison," said Moe Moe, a
45-year-old school teacher. Daw is a respectful term for a woman.

Her conviction and continued detention were condemned by world leaders and
sparked demonstrations in cities from London to Japan on Tuesday. The
European Union began preparing new sanctions against the country's
military regime, and a group of 14 Nobel laureates, including the Dalai
Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, called on the U.N. Security Council to
take strong action against the country.

President Barack Obama termed the conviction a violation of the universal
principle of human rights and said Suu Kyi should be released immediately.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called for the release of
more than 2,000 political prisoners, including Yettaw, who was convicted
along with Suu Kyi and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment with hard
labor.

Yettaw's lawyer, Khin Maung Oo, said Wednesday that he was preparing
documents to file an appeal.

"I will try my utmost to get my client deported as quickly as possible,
especially because of his health condition," Oo said, adding that he did
not immediately know whether Yettaw was being detained in a cell or at the
prison hospital.

Yettaw, 53, spent a week in the hospital for epileptic seizures before the
verdict. He is also said to suffer from asthma and diabetes.

"How is he going to do hard labor if he is so ill?" his former wife,
Yvonne Yettaw, told The Associated Press by telephone from Palm Springs,
California. "Maybe they'll realize he won't make it seven years, and
they'll send him home."

Virginia Sen. Jim Webb will visit Myanmar later this week as part of a
five-nation Asia tour, prompting some speculation that he will try to
negotiate Yettaw's handover to the U.S. — a prospect his lawyer said was
unlikely.

"It is impossible that Mr. Yettaw will be sent back with the visiting
senator. I think my client will finally be deported but not immediately,"
Khin Maung Oo said.

Webb's visit will be the first by a member of the U.S. Congress to Myanmar
in over a decade. He is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee's East Asia and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee.

____________________________________

August 12, New Light of Myanmar
Judgments pronounced for Criminal Regular Trials against US Citizen Mr
John William Yettaw, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Daw Khin Khin Win and Ma Win Ma
Ma

The Northern District Court of the Yangon Division sat against US Citizen
Mr John William Yettaw, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Daw Khin Khin Win and Ma Win
Ma Ma with regard to Criminal Regular Trials 47/2009, 48/2009 and 49/2009
and pronounced judgements at 10.45 hours on 11 August 2009. The Court
sentenced three years rigourous imprisonment to the accused Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi in connection with the Law Safeguarding the State Against the
Danger of Subversive Elements, Section 22; three years rigourous
imprisonment to the accused Daw Khin Khin Win, Ma Win Ma Ma (alias) Ah Nge
Lay and Mr John William Yettaw in accordance with the said Law Section 22/
Penal Code Section 109.

With regard to the accused Mr John William Yettaw, the Court also
sentenced three years rigourous imprisonment in accordance with the 1947
Myanmar Immigration (Emergency Provisions) Act, Section 13 (1) and 1 year
rigourous imprisonment in accordance with Yangon City Development Law,
Section 28.

The Court delivered sentences in the presence of lawyers of the accused U
Kyi Win, U Nyan Win, U Hla Myo Myint, Daw Khin Htay Kywe and U Khin Maung
Oo and District Law Officers (Public Prosecuters).

The event at the Northern District Court was attended and observed by 51
Ambassadors, Counsellors and United Nations representatives based in
Yangon and Bangkok and 25 local and foreign correspondents.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

August 12, Agence France Presse
Total targeted in debate over Myanmar sanctions – Herve Rouach

French energy giant Total was at the centre of controversy Wednesday over
its lucrative dealings in Myanmar as Europe weighed up fresh sanctions
against the junta after Aung San Suu Kyi's latest conviction.

President Nicolas Sarkozy has called on the European Union to introduce
tougher measures but said these should target Myanmar's wood and ruby
sectors, suggesting that Total's mega-investment in offshore gas should be
spared.

Opposition politicians and rights groups said France must demand that
Total step up pressure on the regime after democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi
was sentenced to another 18 months under house arrest.

"We have to ask them to stop financing the ruling junta and stop working
with the regime in this unhealthy way," said the head of the Greens party,
Cecile Duflot.

"We have to strengthen the international pressure and the weapon that we
need to use is Total's role in Burma," Duflot told RTL radio, using
Myanmar's former name.

Total's involvement in Myanmar has long been controversial but there were
indications of a shift in Paris when Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner
said in May that Total was France's only "serious way to put economic
pressure" on the country's military rulers.

Total has been a major investor in Myanmar's off-shore Yadana gas field
since 1992.

Production from Yadana represents 60 percent of Myanmar's gas exports to
Thailand, which relies almost solely on the gas produced to fire power
plants in the Bangkok region.

Located in the Andaman Sea, the Yadana gas field contains more than 150
billion cubic metres (5.3 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas, one of the
richest in the region.

Rights groups say Myanmar's revenues from the oil field should be placed
in an escrow account, similar to the scheme used to punish Iraq under
Saddam Hussein.

The SOS Aung San Suu Kyi Campaign in France said the latest verdict
however showed that Total must also consider a pull-out.

"We need to seriously consider a withdrawal of Total," said Pierre Martial.

A prominent member of the main opposition Socialist Party called on the
French government to open talks with Total on its dealings in Myanmar.

"I am asking the government and the president to consider how France could
contribute to the international sanctions in an effective economic way
that would put heavy pressure on the junta," said Pierre Moscovici.

Total may have a a legitimate "strategic" interest in Myanmar, but its
role must be part of a policy review "conducted at the top level of the
state with Total," said Moscovici.

Total spokesman Jean-Francois Lassalle defended the multi-billion project
as vital for Myanmar's economic development.

"If we leave, we would be immediately replaced" by rivals, he said.

The ruling junta ordered Aung San Suu Kyi to spend another 18 months under
house arrest, a verdict that shut her out of the campaign for the 2010
elections.

The EU sanctions -- in place since 1996 -- include a travel ban and the
freezing of assets of Myanmar's leaders and their relatives, as well as a
ban on arms exports to the country.

____________________________________
ASEAN

August 12, Malaysia Star
Increasing calls for Asean to boot out Myanmar

Political leaders and civil advocates here have called for the Association
of South-East Nations (Asean) to suspend Myanmar’s membership over the
military junta’s conviction of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin wanted Asean to immediately suspend
Myanmar’s membership.

“The verdict is widely viewed as the culmination of a sham trial designed
to prevent Suu Kyi from participating in planned elections next year,” he
wrote on his blog on Tuesday not long after the guilty verdict was handed
down.

“Recent developments in Myanmar represent a black mark in Asean’s history.
The Suu Kyi verdict is a disgusting stain on Asean’s reputation, one that
must be removed quickly and decisively.

“An immediate suspension of Myanmar’s membership in the regional bloc is
the only option open for Asean to save it from being found guilty by
association with the Myanmar junta,” he said.

On Tuesday, a Myanmar court convicted Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, of
violating the terms of her house arrest by allowing an uninvited American
to stay at her home. She was sentenced to three years in jail, but this
was commuted to 18 months’ house arrest.

The 64-year-old opposition leader has spent about 14 of the last 20 years
in detention, mostly under house arrest.

In GEORGE TOWN, the DAP also called for Myanmar -- also known as Burma --
to be suspended from Asean until all charges and sentences against Suu Kyi
were dropped.

Party international secretary Liew Chin Tong urged the Myanmar government
to observe the Asean Charter relating to the promotion and protection of
human rights and fundamental freedoms, reports ANDREA FILMER.

“The DAP calls on the Burmese government to observe the protection of
human rights spelt out by the Asean Charter and for the immediate release
of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.

“We also propose that Myanmar be suspended from Asean until the sentence
is overturned and all charges against Suu Kyi are dropped,” Liew, who is
also Bukit Bendera MP, said in a statement on Wednesday.

He said that the commuting of Suu Kyi’s sentence of three years’
imprisonment to one-and-a-half years under house arrest was “no
consolation” as she has effectively been disqualified from the elections
due in Myanmar next year.

“We have no doubt that these charges are entirely trumped-up, politically
motivated and an affront to democracy, human rights and international
rules of law,” he said.

In KUALA LUMPUR, the National League for Democracy Party Myanmar urged the
Malaysian Government to put more pressure on Myanmar’s military junta so
that Suu Kyi could be released immediately and unconditionally.

“This will make her available to contest for next year’s election ... we
also want the election to be free and fair,” a member of the league here,
Kyaw Myo Maung, told reporters on Tuesday, according to Bernama.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

August 12, Times of London
China calls on West to 'respect' new detention of Aung San Suu Kyi –
Richard Lloyd Parry

China urged the international community to respect the extended house
arrest imposed on the Burmese democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, which
has provoked fury from western governments, promises of new sanctions and
growing demands for an arms embargo on Burma’s junta.

“International society should fully respect Myanmar's judicial
sovereignty,” the Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, Jiang Yu Jiang
said the day after Ms Suu Kyi was sent back to house arrest for another 18
months for receiving an eccentric American visitor who swam, uninvited, to
the lakeside home where she was detained.

“As a neighbour of Myanmar's, China hopes all sides in Myanmar can push
ethnic reconciliation through talks, and gradually realise stability,
democracy and development,” Ms Jiang added. “This not only accords with
Myanmar's interests, it is also beneficial to regional stability.”

The statement makes it almost unthinkable that the matter of Ms Suu Kyi’s
extended detention will provoke action from the UN Security Council, where
China has a veto. No other country has more power and influence over Burma
than China, and yesterday’s position will frustrate foreign governments
and lobbying groups demanding democratic reform from the dictatorship.

Ms Suu Kyi spent the first day under her new sentence of house arrest
yesterday without access to her lawyers, who were not permitted to see her
to discuss the appeal which they are planning against the sentence. The
Australian Government added its voice to proposals for a global arms
embargo against Burma, also supported by Gordon Brown, but without the
active support of China, or at least a number of Burma’s neighbours, such
efforts are certain to founder.

Two-way trade between China and Burma amounted to $2.6 billion (£1.6bn)
last year, with much of its oil, natural gas, and precious metals imported
by China, and cheap manufactured goods flowing into Burma.

Beijing is reluctant to jeopardise this useful trade, but Burma also
represents a strategic zone of influence with its proximity to China’s
regional rival, India, and access to the waters of the Indian Ocean. As a
one-party state which locks up those who challenge its rule, China is
reluctant to reproach any state on human rights grounds.

“We maintain that all countries, big and small, strong and weak, rich and
poor, are equal, and we respect the right of people of all countries to
independently choose their own development path,” China’s foreign
minister, Yang Jiechi, said yesterday after receiving an honorary degree
from the Geneva School of Diplomacy.

____________________________________

August 12, Agence France-Presse
Indonesia restricts meeting of Myanmar exiles

Indonesia said Wednesday it had shut down a meeting of exiled Myanmar
opposition groups in a move that the activists blamed on pressure from the
military junta in Yangon.

Myanmar's self-proclaimed government-in-exile and six pro-democracy
alliances were due to hold two days of talks in Jakarta to spearhead a
democracy transition plan for the military-ruled country.

The talks were to take place a day after Myanmar opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi was sentenced to 18 months of further house arrest, on charges
of breaching the terms of her confinement.

Organisers said their meeting had been curtailed due to "restrictions by
police" and intervention from Yangon.

"Regional politics or ASEAN internal politics (are) as usual taking
place... We are very disappointed," Bo Hla Tint, foreign affairs minister
for the exiled National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, told
AFP in an email.

Foreign ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah confirmed that Jakarta had
disallowed the meeting despite being aware of "international
disappointment" over the situation in Myanmar.

However, Jakarta could not allow a government-in-exile to meet on its
territory, Faizasyah said.

"Based on this, the Indonesian police stopped them from organising their
planned conference," he told AFP.

Indonesia is a founding member of the 10-member Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN), and has been criticised for failing to speak out
strongly enough against human rights abuses by fellow member Myanmar.

Critics have accused the military junta in Myanmar of convicting Suu Kyi
in order to keep her off the scene for next year's polls.

Suu Kyi has been detained for most of the past two decades and was
sentenced to another 18 months at her lakeside home in Yangon over a
bizarre incident in May when an American man swam to her home uninvited.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

August 12, Agence France-Presse
UN silent as Suu Kyi moves to appeal verdict

The detained Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her US
co-defendant, John Yettaw, will appeal against their convictions, lawyers
said yesterday, as the United Nations failed to condemn the democracy
advocate's latest incarceration.

The junta's decision on Tuesday to give Ms Suu Kyi another 18 months of
house arrest will ensure she cannot participate in next year's elections.

On Tuesday, the UN Security Council broke up an emergency meeting with no
condemnation as Burma's Asian neighbours issued a rare expression of
''deep disappointment'' at the sentence.

The Security Council failed to sign off on a US-drafted statement
condemning the verdict on Ms Suu Kyi. Britain's UN ambassador, John
Sawers, who is chairing the council this month, said debate was due to
resume yesterday.

In Rangoon, Ms Suu Kyi's lawyer, Nyan Win, yesterday said her legal team
would appeal because they were ''not satisfied'' with the judgment, which
stemmed from a stunt in which Mr Yettaw swam to her lakeside house in May.

''We assume that the judgment is totally wrong according to the law,'' Mr
Nyan Win said, adding that he had received approval from Suu Kyi to
proceed.

Lawyers for Mr Yettaw, who was sentenced to seven years' hard labour and
imprisonment, would appeal ''step-by-step'' to the court system and if
necessary urge the head of the junta, General Than Shwe, to deport him,
his lawyer, Khin Maung Oo, said.

The Association of South-East Asian Nations, of which Burma is a member,
expressed ''deep disappointment'' and called for the immediate release of
Ms Suu Kyi but said it would ''remain constructively engaged with Burma.''

The Australian Government has hauled in the Burmese ambassador to protest
the ongoing detention of Ms Suu Kyi.

The Foreign Affairs Minister, Stephen Smith, says Canberra would also
support calls for a UN global arms embargo against Burma.

____________________________________

August 12, Associated Press
4 UN experts to Myanmar: Free Aung San Suu Kyi

Four UN-appointed human rights experts say Burmese democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi should be immediately released.

The global body's investigators for arbitrary detention, freedom of
expression, human rights defenders and human rights in Myanmar say the
Nobel Peace laureate was convicted by Myanmar's military junta in a
"baseless trial" meant only to exclude her from elections next year.

Suu Kyi was found guilty Tuesday of violating her house arrest by allowing
an uninvited American to stay at her home. The confinement was extended by
18 months.

The UN experts said Tuesday the court was biased, the charges lacked
substance and the trial was illegal.

The experts are El Hadji Malick Sow; Frank La Rue Lewy; Margaret Sakaggya;
and Tomas Ojea Quintana.

____________________________________

August 11, South Africa Press Association
South Africa condemns Suu Kyi’s conviction

South Africa condemned on Tuesday a decision by Myanmar authorities to
convict the pro-democracy opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, on charges
of subversion.

"The South African government believes an opportunity for movement towards
democratisation, nation building and reconciliation has been lost," said
Deputy International Relations and Co-operation Minister Ebrahim Ebrahim.

"Accordingly, the South African government calls for Aung San Suu Kyi's
immediate release so that she can participate in preparations for the 2010
elections," Ebrahim said in a statement.

South Africa's government called on all political role players in Myanmar
to start "an inclusive dialogue" to create conditions for "democratisation
and political inclusivity", said Ebrahim.

"The South African government, today, Tuesday 11 August 2009, joined the
international community in unequivocally condemning the decision by the
authorities in Myanmar to convict opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on
charges of subversion."

Foreign news agencies reported on Tuesday that a Myanmar court sentenced
Suu Kyi to three years in prison with labour but the verdict was quickly
commuted to 18 months under house detention.

The court found her guilty of breaking the terms of her detention by
allowing a US national to swim into her lakeside compound/prison on May 3.

The house arrest will ensure that Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, cannot
take part in general elections planned for 2010.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

August 12, New York Times
Pressuring the Burmese junta – Jared Lutken

While the predictable condemnations echo around the world after the
Burmese junta’s sentencing of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to an additional 18
months under house arrest, it may be surprising to hear that, as her
international counsel, I would urge caution against focusing too heavily
on her plight to the exclusion of the broader situation in Myanmar.

This is not because there is anything remotely just about the outcome of
her trial. Indeed, the junta charged Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi with violating
the terms of her house arrest during a sixth year of detention when the
law under which she was imprisoned limited her house arrest to five years.
The junta blamed her for being in contact with an American intruder in her
home when it had exclusive security responsibility for her premises. And
her trial had deep procedural flaws, including a lack of regular access to
her counsel and unjustified denial of proposed defense witnesses.
Moreover, it was closed on all but a handful of occasions to outside
observers.

For these reasons, we immediately filed a petition to the U.N. Working
Group on Arbitrary Detention requesting what would be a sixth judgment
that the terms of her imprisonment are in clear violation of both Burmese
and international law.

Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi herself has repeatedly urged that the international
focus not be on her alone. The junta has released her on two previous
occasions to relieve intense international pressure, and then used the
reduced international focus to clamp down further on its people. The
reality is that her freedom will not necessarily yield any real progress
in achieving a comprehensive solution to Myanmar’s turmoil. Her situation
must be seen in the context of the suffering of Myanmar’s 47 million
people under an authoritarian and inept junta.

Few regimes are as illegitimate and cruel as Gen. Than Shwe’s. Since Mrs.
Aung San Suu Kyi was first detained before the 1990 elections, more than
3,000 villages have been destroyed under the military’s campaign of
killing, torture and rape against ethnic minorities, as reported by Human
Rights Watch. One million refugees have fled the country while hundreds of
thousands of internally displaced people struggle to subsist in 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 Myanmar was devastated by Cyclone Nargis, the international
community had to beg the junta to allow it to save its own people.

Even if Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi had been released, nothing would have
changed. Some 2,100 political prisoners would remain imprisoned. The junta
would continue to move toward 2010 elections based on an illegitimate
constitution that is designed to make its rule permanent. And the regime’s
systematic human rights abuses would persist.

All these reasons — not merely Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s new sentence —
demonstrate that Myanmar’s junta constitutes a threat to world peace and
security meriting urgent international engagement.

What should be done?

First, the U.N. Security Council must use the international focus on
Myanmar created by Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s sentencing as an opportunity to
revisit its prior demands to the junta, which have not been met, including
the release of all political prisoners, open access for humanitarian aid,
a movement toward national reconciliation and a restoration of democracy.
As a stop-gap measure against human rights abuses, the Security Council
should adopt a global arms embargo on the Burmese junta.

Second, Ban Ki-moon, the U.N. secretary general, should press the junta to
respond to his requests for reform, which he presented on a recent visit
to the country.

Third, the United States, the European Union and allies such as Australia
and Canada should urge China, India and the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations to make clear to the junta that repeated flouting of U.N. demands
make defending the regime increasingly difficult.

There are no easy answers to the problems in Myanmar. But it is well
understood what needs to be done. The sentencing of Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi
has provided a clear opportunity for action. Now, it is up to the
international community to move beyond words of condemnation.

Jared Genser is president of Freedom Now and serves as international
counsel to Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi.
____________________________________

August 12, Irrawaddy
Than Shwe vindicated again – Aung Zaw

The court’s decision to extend the imprisonment of Nobel Peace Prize
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was received with a chorus of condemnation from
the international community and governments around the region and beyond.

While the Philippines government called the sentence “incomprehensible”
and “deplorable,” the European Parliamentary Caucus on Burma called the
military generals “the real criminals.”

However, despite all the disappointment and shock that was expressed, it
can be no secret that Tuesday’s verdict was a decision that was made by
the junta long ago.

Snr-Gen Than Shwe made up his mind as far back as the 1990s to keep his
perceived nemesis, Suu Kyi, under house arrest for as long as he could get
away with it.

The general had no doubt prepared for condemnation from abroad. He
anticipated it and decided to use the occasion to act arrogantly while
speaking magnanimously.

Than Shwe knows only too well how to manipulate the opinion of his friends
and foes. He has done it before. Now he can again pat himself on the back
when he sees how the international community is divided and has misread
the mixed signals of his verdict.

Most predictable of all is China, Than Shwe’s most pragmatic ally.

In reaction to the regime's decision to prolong Suu Kyi's house arrest,
China on Wednesday urged the international community to respect the
decision.

“The international community should fully respect Myanmar's judicial
sovereignty,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said.

Indeed, as long as the Burmese military regime sells gas and allows the
Chinese to extract Burma’s natural resources while providing them a
strategic interest in the Bay of Bengal, China won’t hesitate in backing
one of the most repressive regimes in the world.

Meanwhile, at a United Nations Security Council meeting on Tuesday, China
successfully drew a halt to an emergency meeting on Burma by refusing to
accept the draft proposal of the US government condemning the Burmese
junta’s decision. Russia backed China and, although the meeting was
postponed until Wednesday, the Security Council was once again rendered
ineffective against the regime.

Of course, US President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
all issued statements deploring the Rangoon court’s decision.

But Than Shwe won’t be alarmed when he reads the statements from the US
and its allies. He would not have expected anything less.

British premier Brown said, “Now comes our greatest test. In the face of
this arrogance, we cannot stand by and effectively sanction the abhorrent
actions of a violent and repressive junta—but show them that the
international community is united and coordinated in its response.”

Brown is correct in pointing out that this is the West’s greatest test
with regard to Burma. However, his calls for international unity and an
effective arms embargo are political mountains that his government does
not look capable of scaling.

Nonetheless, we say “Good luck, Mr Brown!” We hope you can bring down the
regime in the process.

In the region, the reaction to the verdict was unsurprisingly mixed.
Thailand, as chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(Asean), expressed its “disappointment” over the court ruling.

The Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia also condemned the verdict, but
Singapore, haven of the Than Shwe family and shopping hub for generals’
wives and cronies, took a somewhat hypocritical stance.

The Singaporean foreign ministry expressed “disappointment” at the guilty
verdict, but said it was “happy that the Myanmar government has exercised
its sovereign prerogative to grant amnesty by halving her [Suu Kyi’s]
sentence and that she will be placed under house arrest rather than
imprisoned.”

The island state actually praised the regime for being lenient with Suu
Kyi as opposed to decrying the bizarre trial and entire charade in the
first place.

As though allowing her to read state newspapers and have access to paper
when she needs it is compensation for a woman who has given her life for
democracy and justice.

Is it too much trouble for Singapore’s leaders to remember back to the
killing of monks and activists on the streets of Rangoon in September
2007?

The only political concession Than Shwe has made since then was to
cleverly create a new post for labor minister Aung Kyi, making him
“minister for relations” to the detained NLD leader. Was it really wishful
thinking at the UN and among foreign experts that the regime was moving in
the right direction?

After all, such a statement from an authoritarian state like Singapore is
a sure sign that Asean is sending a mixed message to the regime.

Let’s face it ... Than Shwe has been vindicated again. He has managed to
trump up a case against Suu Kyi, convict her, keep her locked up and
silence her.

And that is all he ever wanted in the first place.

____________________________________

August 12, Washington Post
Allies for Aung San Suu Kyi

THE MILITARY junta's decision Tuesday to extend for another 18 months the
house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's rightful ruler, came as no
surprise. She frightens Gen. Than Shwe and his cronies. No doubt they
cannot understand her popularity, humility or moral courage. So they keep
her locked up, as they have for most of the years since her democratic
party won, and was cheated out of, an overwhelming electoral victory in
1990.

Nor was it a surprise that "today's unjust decision," as President Obama
called it, met with near-universal condemnation. Burma's democratic
neighbors in Southeast Asia, such as Indonesia and the Philippines; the
European Union and Australia; U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and an
august collection of those who, like Aung San Suu Kyi, have won the Nobel
Peace Prize -- all urged the junta to free her. Most pointed out that more
than 2,000 other political prisoners, many suffering in appalling
conditions, also should be freed.

But what then, after the deploring and condemning? All of Burma's 50
million people are in reality political prisoners, on a dismal par with
the people of North Korea and few other nations on Earth. The brutality
and corruption of their military leaders, who suck 40 percent of the
government's budget into the army and squander much of the rest on lavish
and bizarrely isolated lifestyles, have reduced a once-prosperous nation
to a poverty level below that of Malawi or Afghanistan. The armed forces
routinely wage war against ethnic groups, with rape and forced labor among
the favored weapons. Do the leaders of other nations, who a few years back
puffed out their chests and took upon themselves the "responsibility to
protect" the vulnerable populations of the world, have any response?

There are measures that could be tried: coordinated financial sanctions
aimed at the leaders who profit from their compatriots' misery, for
example, or a real arms embargo -- particularly apt given recent reports
of Burmese cooperation with North Korea in nuclear affairs. A May report
by the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School,
commissioned by eminent former judges such as Patricia Wald of the United
States and Richard Goldstone of South Africa, compellingly laid out
sufficient evidence of the junta's crimes against humanity to justify a
U.N. Security Council Commission of Inquiry that could lead to charges in
the International Criminal Court. Russia and China, defenders of despots,
would be obstacles, but perhaps not insuperable ones, if the United
States, Southeast Asia and Europe made this a priority.

And where is the United States? Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
announced early in her tenure a review of U.S. policy toward Burma. While
the sham trial of Aung San Suu Kyi was taking place, that review was
suspended, leaving the administration surprisingly unready to respond to
Tuesday's events. The review will be resumed now -- with, we would hope, a
sense of urgency that has been wanting so far.

____________________________________

August 11, Newsweek
The conviction of Burma's opposition leader doesn't show clemency or
compromise; it's a sign of the regime's desperation – Melinda Liu

Some people are saying that Aung San Suu Kyi's verdict today—18 months of
house arrest, commuted down from three years of hard labor—is a sign that
Burma's junta leader Than Shwe really is beginning to show more
flexibility. They're wrong. The junta is subjecting the opposition
leader's freedom to "death by a thousand cuts," the notorious Chinese
torture technique that prolonged prisoners' lives but only temporarily,
and at a ghastly price.

The generals who rule Burma are trying to take a page from Beijing's
playbook, hoping that the world—and their own citizens—will tolerate
continuing government repression as they do in China, which happens to be
a key ally of the Burmese generals. But the junta has forgotten one
important thing. The grand bargain that has prevailed between the Chinese
government and its people goes like this: Beijing promises to keep
delivering better and better living standards to its citizens, who in turn
accept its benign autocracy and refrain from toppling the government.
Though that Chinese deal has come under strain at times, it has survived
better than expected for more than three decades.

Problem is, Burma's junta has presided over a steady deterioration in the
country's economy, which used to be the world's largest rice exporter back
in British colonial times. (Burma became an independent country in 1948;
for more than 100 years before that, it was mostly ruled as part of the
British Raj.) Since the Burmese military grabbed power in 1962, ending a
period of democratic government, the country has been wracked by civil
unrest, a languishing economy, natural disasters, and simmering
insurgencies. Per capita GDP is about $1,200, slightly better than Rwanda,
and the most violent incidents of antigovernment unrest have been rooted
in economic grievances. In August 1988, the regime brutally crushed
student-led demonstrations that erupted after authorities (apparently on
numerologists' advice) abruptly demonetized many currency notes. Another
bout of civil unrest was ignited in September 2007 by drastic fuel-price
hikes. The only thing truly flourishing today is the military itself,
which now eats up 40 percent of the national budget. It has doubled in
size since Suu Kyi's electoral victory was stolen 19 years ago.

The grand bargain that prevails in China does not, and cannot, work in
today's Burma. But Than Shwe's junta keeps trying to replicate its
techniques. Today was the last chance for the strongman to make a genuine
bid for the legitimacy that has so obsessed the country's ruling generals.
The charismatic opposition leader Suu Kyi, who has spent 14 of the past 19
years under house arrest, is widely seen to have been charged with
violating the terms of her detention as an excuse for the junta to
continue detaining her.

She was due to be freed when a traveling American, John Yettaw, swam
across a Rangoon lake in May to warn her of assassins whom he'd glimpsed
in a vision. She allowed him to stay at her residence for two nights—and
for the "crime" of hosting this uninvited visitor, Suu Kyi's detention was
prolonged. (Yettaw was sentenced to seven years, including four years'
hard labor, for violating immigration law and for illegal swimming.)

Suu Kyi's sentence pretty much ensures the junta will not be seriously
challenged in next year's parliamentary elections—but also that Than Shwe
has lost Burma for good. Had she been freed, Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy party would almost certainly not be able to duplicate its
resounding electoral victory in the last election 19 years ago. Her
followers have been harassed, intimidated, and co-opted to such a degree
in the intervening years that it's a shadow of the political organization
it had once been. Even so, the junta was still too insecure to allow
elections that might bestow legitimacy upon the winner. It's a sign Than
Shwe knows his government is unlawful.

The magnanimity he tried to show is a tactic often seen in Chinese
political trails. The court initially sentenced Suu Kyi to three years of
hard labor, then called a five-minute recess. At that point, a commutation
order from the general himself was read aloud in the courtroom. But this
was not compromise; it was desperation. Now, the 2010 parliamentary vote
that the junta is taking such pains to prepare for will be seen as a sham.
That means it will be up to Suu Kyi or a younger opposition leadership—or
maybe a more pragmatic set of generals—to give the Burmese a government
they can believe in again.

____________________________________
STATEMENT

August 12, National Democratic Institute
NDI condemns conviction of Aung San Suu Kyi

The National Democratic Institute (NDI) today condemned the decision by
Burma’s military junta to sentence Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu
Kyi to 18-months house arrest on charges that she violated the terms of
her previous house arrest sentence.

“The conviction of Aung San Suu Kyi on trumped up charges is the latest
perversion of justice perpetrated by Burma’s despotic and illegitimate
leadership,” said Madeleine K. Albright, chairman of the National
Democratic Institute. “Burma’s government has acted once again on the
basis of fear.  Its leaders are afraid that Daw Suu Kyi will expose the
elections planned for 2010 as a sham and afraid of allowing the Burmese
people to express themselves under free and fair conditions.  The world
should condemn the outcome of this trial, demand the return to real
democracy and insist on the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and the
approximately 2,100 political dissidents languishing in Burmese prisons.”

Daw Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma’s democratic opposition, the National
League for Democracy, was originally sentenced to three years hard labor
on charges she violated the terms of her house arrest. By special order,
Senior General Than Shwe, head of the State Peace and Development Council,
changed her sentence to 18 months under house arrest. The charges arose
when an American man penetrated her compound, which is heavily guarded by
armed military personnel, by swimming across a nearby lake. The intruder
suffered exhaustion from the swim and stayed inside the compound to rest
before leaving again. The military regime claimed the incident violated of
the house arrest conditions, which prohibit Daw Suu Kyi from having
visitors in her home.

Aung San Suu Kyi received NDI’s W. Averell Harriman Democracy Award in 1996.

The National Democratic Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization
working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide by
promoting citizen participation, openness and accountability in
government.  More information is available at www.ndi.org [2].

Contact: Kathy Gest,
kgest at ndi.org, 202-728-5535

____________________________________

August 11, Office of the White House Press Secretary
Statement by the President on Aung San Suu Kyi’s conviction and sentencing

The conviction and sentencing of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi today on charges
related to an uninvited intrusion into her home violate universal
principles of human rights, run counter to Burma’s commitments under the
ASEAN charter, and demonstrate continued disregard for UN Security Council
statements.  I join the international community in calling for Aung San
Suu Kyi’s immediate unconditional release.

Today’s unjust decision reminds us of the thousands of other political
prisoners in Burma who, like Aung San Suu Kyi, have been denied their
liberty because of their pursuit of a government that respects the will,
rights, and aspirations of all Burmese citizens.  They, too, should be
freed.  Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away.  I call
on the Burmese regime to heed the views of its own people and the
international community and to work towards genuine national
reconciliation.

I am also concerned by the sentencing of American citizen John Yettaw to
seven years in prison, a punishment out of proportion with his actions.

____________________________________

August 12, Brazil Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Sentence against Madam Aung San Suu Kyi

The Brazilian government regrets the decision that condemned Aung San Suu
Kyi to 18 months of house arrest.

The Brazilian government joins the call for Aung San Suu Kyi be released
immediately so that the elections in Burma can take place in a climate of
credibility.

____________________________________

August 12, Federal Ministry for Austria
Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger on the conviction of Nobel Peace
Prize laureate

Federal Minister Michael Spindelegger condemned the outcome of the trial
of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi: "The trial, which was
intended to deprive Aung Sang Suu Kyi of the opportunity to become
politically active prior to the 2010 elections, did not meet rule-of-law
standards and is an example of continued political repression in Burma."
The Foreign Minister regretted the fact that international appeals,
including those by the United Nations and the EU, had again not been
heeded.

"This decision has to be seen as a further sign that those responsible in
Burma are not prepared to strike a compromise or take steps towards real
democracy. Free and fair elections will not be possible in 2010 without
the participation of the opposition, in particular Aung San Suu Kyi."

The Foreign Minister appealed to the government of Burma to affect the
immediate, unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all other
political prisoners, as well as launch a genuine dialogue with all of the
country?s political and ethnic groups in order to achieve national
reconciliation, the creation of democratic conditions and respect of human
rights in Burma.

Contact:
Federal Ministry for Austria
European and international Affairs
Press Department
Tel.: ++43 (0) 50 1150-3262, 4549, 4550
Fax: ++43 (0) 50 1159-213
abti3(at)bmeia.gv.at

____________________________________

August 12, New Light of Myanmar
Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council issues directive dated
10 August 2009 for Ministry of Home Affairs stating upon Court pronouncing
sentence to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, sentence to be served by her under
Criminal Procedure Code be amended to be remitted and suspended if she
displays good conduct and pardon be granted accordingly

The Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council issued a directive
dated 10 August 2009 for the Ministry of Home Affairs stating upon the
Court pronouncing sentence to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the sentence to be
served by her under the Criminal Procedure Code be amended to be remitted
and suspended if she displays good conduct and pardon be granted
accordingly. The full text of the directive is as follows:

Union of Myanmar

Office of the Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council

Letter No 04/NaYaKa (Oo)/La Nga Hka

Dated 10th August 2009

To:

The Minister,

Ministry of Home Affairs.

Subject: Upon the Court pronouncing sentence to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
(father U Aung San) the sentence to be served by her under the Criminal
Procedure be amended to be remitted and suspensed if she displays good
conduct and pardon be granted accordingly.

1. The Northern District Court of the Yangon Division by Criminal Regular
Trial 47/2009 in accordance with the Law Safeguarding the State Against
the Danger of Subversive Elements, Section 22 instituted the case for
breach of provision against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (father U Aung San)
unavoidably by responsible persons, and the State Peace and Development
Council is aggrieved at the said action.

2. However, for the sake of the rule of Law, judicial proceedings justly
made in accordance with existing law shall be respected and abided by all
citizens.

3. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, being the daughter of Bogyoke Aung San who
sacrificed his life for the independence of Myanmar, viewing that peace,
tranquility and stability will prevail, that no malice be held against
each other, that there be no obstruction in the path to democracy, the
Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council desires within the
ambits of his rights and powers to exercise leniency upon her.

4. Thus upon the Court finding Daw Aung San Suu Kyi guilty to have
committed the offence pronounced sentence accordingly. Whatsoever sentence
be pronounced, it is amended under Criminal Procedure Code Section 401,
Sub-Section (5) that the half of the sentence to be served is remitted and
the remainder of the sentence is to be suspended.

5. During the period of suspended sentence, in paragraph 4, Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi shall reside in her residence, No 54/56 University Avenue,
Shwetaunggyar Quarters No. 1, Bahan Township, in accordance with the
annexed stipulations.

6. It is informed that should Daw Aung San Suu Kyi abide in accordance
with the annexed stipulations in good conduct during the suspended period
and not exceeding such period, all suspended sentences shall be pardoned.

Chairman

State Peace and Development Council

Under the directive of the Chairman of the State Peace and Development
Council, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued an order dated 10 August and
informed Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of the order and read it to her.