Myanmar Sentences 14 Democracy Supporters

[TotallyOz]

BANGKOK — Myanmar’s military leadership continued its crackdown on dissent Tuesday, handing down prison sentences of 65 years each to 14 pro-democracy advocates, according to regional news accounts and reports on a Web site for exiles.

 

The convictions came a day after a blogger was sentenced to 20 years for “creating public alarm,” among other offenses, The Associated Press reported.

 

Tuesday’s sentences were delivered by judges operating within the compound of Insein prison, which holds many of the country’s estimated 2,000 political prisoners. Family members spoke to news agency reporters in Yangon, the country’s largest city, and said that they and defense lawyers were not allowed into the courtroom.

 

The Irrawaddy Web site, which is based in neighboring Thailand, listed the names of 14 advocates it said were sentenced to the 65-year terms.

 

Some of the advocates were reported to be veterans of 1988 pro-democracy uprising that nearly succeeded in toppling the country’s military leaders. The advocates were arrested in August 2007 in the early stages of protests that swelled later in the year into mass demonstrations led by monks that were violently put down.

 

Relatives of the advocates said they were convicted under a wide range of laws like the Foreign Exchange Act, which bans Burmese from holding foreign currency without permission. Other laws reportedly used were the Video Act and Electronics Act, which require Burmese to hold permits for various types of ordinary electronic equipment.

 

One of the best-known examples of the use of these laws was the sentencing in 1996 of James Nichols, an honorary consul for Norway, to three years for possession of a fax machine without a permit in his Yangon home. He died in detention, several months after his conviction in April 1996. Analysts say the real reason for the conviction appeared to be his friendship with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy leader who is under house arrest.

 

Punishments for dissidents have become much harsher in recent years, according to Win Min, an expert on Burmese politics at Chiang Mai University in northern Thailand. A decade ago a sentence of 20 years was considered very unusual, Mr. Win Min said. The 65-year sentences handed down Tuesday are in effect life terms, Mr. Win Min said.

 

“They rule the country by fear and this was a way to give the young generation fear,” Mr. Win Min said of the junta. “By giving out long sentences the new generation will be discouraged from protesting.”

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/world/as...amp;oref=slogin

[Guest Steve1903]

I'm normally a very outspoken person when it comes to politics, however I often wonder if I'd be so brave if I lived in a place like Myanmar. Sadly I doubt it which only increase my admiration for those in such countries who let their opinions be known. More power to them.

[Bob]

Long live Aung San Suu Kyi! And screw the petty Burma dictators.

[KhorTose]

Long live Aung San Suu Kyi! And screw the petty Burma dictators.

 

I agree completely. The real villians here are not just the Generals, but China. Without China's support and backing these corrupt petty meglamanics would be long gone. China only supports these ,....... because the Generals give China full access to all of Burma's assets, in return for financing and supplying their army.

 

[Guest GaySacGuy]

Where is spreader of democracy George Bush??? Why hasn't he taken over this country too, and allowed a democratic governement. I think the US would be greated there as liberators!!

[Guest lvdkeyes]

Where is spreader of democracy George Bush??? Why hasn't he taken over this country too, and allowed a democratic governement. I think the US would be greated there as liberators!!

Good thing he is out of office in 2 weeks or he might consider it if he were to read your comment.

[Guest GaySacGuy]

Good thing he is out of office in 2 weeks or he might consider it if he were to read your comment.

 

If he pays an attention to my post, he is probably the first! lol

[Guest]

The world would be a better place if the UN could agree to remove the most offensive dictatorships in the world, including Burma, North Korea & Zimbabwe.

There's just too much suffering in those countries.

 

Sadly the Iraq invasion has discredited such policies & in any case other dictatorships like China would always veto such action.

 

 

 

[Guest MonkeySee]

This was recently reported: Myanmar activist gets 104 years jail

YANGON, Jan 14 — Military-ruled Myanmar has freed six people who recently called for the release of detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but sentenced another activist to 104 years in prison, relatives and an activist group said today.

 

Six members of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party who marched for her release on Dec 30 in the country’s biggest city, Yangon, were freed without charge today, said the detainees’ relatives. They spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of harassment by the authorities.

 

Three others activists remained in detention, according to the relatives.

 

Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi, the face of Myanmar’s beleaguered opposition, has been detained without trial for about 13 of the past 19 years, despite a worldwide campaign calling on the country’s military rulers to release her.

 

Meanwhile, a member of a student protest group who was arrested last September was sentenced on Jan 3 to 104 years in jail on a variety of charges, including six violations of immigration law, said the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a Thailand-based group of Myanmar activists.

 

It said Bo Min Yu Ko of the All Burma Federation of Students Unions was not allowed a defence lawyer at his trial. It did not give details of his offences.

 

“The courts are not independent and simply follow orders from the regime,” said the group’s statement. “Criminals sentenced on drug charges are often given relatively light sentences, but political activists are given very long terms of imprisonment.”

 

It said that at least 280 political activists have been sentenced in a flurry of hurried and often closed court cases since October last year.

 

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. The current junta came to power in 1988 after crushing a nationwide pro-democracy uprising.

 

It held elections in 1990 but refused to honour the results after Suu Kyi’s party won a landslide victory. — AP