Swimming to Meet Suu Kyi

[Gaybutton]

The following appears in the BANGKOK POST:

_____

 

US Man Swims Lake to Meet Suu Kyi

 

By: AFP

Published: 8/05/2009

 

Rangoon - Burmese authorities have arrested an American who swam across a lake to meet opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and stayed 48 hours in her off-limits compound where she is under house arrest, officials said.

 

State media said the man, identified as John Willian Yeattaw, spent two days at the house in the main city of Rangoon before security forces plucked him from the water as he left at dawn on Wednesday.

 

The man confessed that he had arrived in Rangoon on a tourist visa on May 2, then swam to the compound the following night "and secretly entered the house and stayed there", the New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.

 

Burmese official sources speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed the account and said that the man had succeeded in meeting Mrs Suu Kyi during his time at the house.

 

He then left late on May 5 and "was found and arrested by the security force while he was swimming back out of the lake" at about 5:30am on Wednesday "with the help of a five-litre drinking water bottle", the paper added.

 

It said authorities confiscated his passport and a black haversack, torch, folding pliers, a camera, two US $100 bills and some Burmese currency notes.

 

An investigation was under way to determine the motive of the man, who is aged 53 and was a United States national, officials said, giving no further details of the incident.

 

Witnesses said more than 30 police officers entered Mrs Suu Kyi's residence after the story broke on Thursday and security forces blocked off the roads leading to her house.

 

The US embassy said it was trying to find out more.

 

"We have seen the article this morning," a spokesman said. "We don't have any more information. We are trying to learn more information ourselves."

 

The incident would be the first time that anyone has sneaked into Mrs Suu Kyi's family compound, which is normally off-limits.

 

Mrs Suu Kyi has spent most of the past 19 years under house arrest in Rangoon, where she lives with her two maids, and she is allowed only occasional visits from her doctor and lawyer.

 

Nyan Win, a spokesman from Mrs Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), said the incident exposed security concerns.

 

"It shows the security weakness at Daw Suu Kyi's compound... we are worried for Daw Suu Kyi's security," he said.

 

He was unable to confirm whether the US national had met Mrs Suu Kyi, saying that he only had the local newspaper reports to go on.

 

Mrs Suu Kyi's doctor visited the house later on Thursday to carry out her regular medical check-up but it was unclear if he had been able to visit her, Nyan Win said.

 

Official sources said the doctor waited for several hours but was eventually denied permission to enter.

 

The 63-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate's latest period of incarceration expires at the end of May and authorities have not said yet if they intend to extend her sentence.

 

Her party said on Tuesday the government had rejected a separate legal appeal against her detention.

 

The appeal was lodged last year after Mrs Suu Kyi was given an intravenous drip by her doctor after refusing food deliveries for a month.

 

The NLD won a landslide victory in elections in 1990 but the military, which has ruled the impoverished country with an iron rod since 1962, never allowed it to take office.

 

[Guest MonkeySee]

The length those American reporters will go to get a story!

[Guest lvdkeyes]

The length those American reporters will go to get a story!

Not only American reporters.

[Gaybutton]

The length those American reporters will go to get a story!

That's an interestingly ignorant comment, MonkeySee. I'm surprised you would write such a thing. That's a side of you I haven't seen before and I'm sorry to see it now. For your information, that article was written by AFP. AFP stands for "Agence France-Presse," a French news organization.

 

If you are talking about the man who made the swim, yes he's American. Please show me where the article indicates he is a reporter. I missed it. As far as I can tell, he's an individual lone nut who could have been from anywhere.

 

In other words, I fail to see anything at all, either in the source of the article or in the content of the article, that even hints that he's a reporter.

 

I don't mind at all the insults directed toward Americans when they are warranted, but I do get annoyed when an insult comes from out of nowhere, for no reason. I get a little tired of people who think it's appropriate to insult people based solely upon where they come from. I'm an American. I'm neither proud of it nor ashamed of it. It's simply the country in which I was born and raised. Certainly America has its problems and flaws. I'm glad to know your home country is free of similar shortcomings.

[Guest taylorsquare]

 

He was a dedicated reporter.

[Gaybutton]

He was a dedicated reporter.

Where does the article say that?

[Guest MonkeySee]

I'm glad to know your home country is free of similar shortcomings.

Wow, lighten up will you? Did somebody get up on the wrong side of the bed or is it that time of the month? Perhaps GayThailand can give you one of those fish-nibbling massages to help your mood?

[Gaybutton]

Wow, lighten up will you? Did somebody get up on the wrong side of the bed or is it that time of the month? Perhaps GayThailand can give you one of those fish-nibbling massages to help your mood?

Nothing wrong with my mood, but next time think about how what you are saying may be taken.

 

Now I'll officially lighten up.

[Guest MonkeySee]

Now I'll officially lighten up.

Glad to see you join the ranks of the "lighten up" group. I think it might be much better for your blood pressure. My comment was meant to be a joke and did not think Americans would be that sensitive. To be politically correct, let me re-phrase and say, the lengths some people will go to get a story.

 

[Guest lvdkeyes]

did not think Americans would be that sensitive.

I can only speak for myself, not all Americans, but I do get a bit tired of some Brits thinking it is fair game to bash Americans no matter what the subject is.

[Gaybutton]

I can only speak for myself, not all Americans, but I do get a bit tired of some Brits thinking it is fair game to bash Americans no matter what the subject is.

I feel the same way. As a matter of fact I'm goddam sick of it. And it's not just the Brits. Every country in the world has and has had its problems, flaws, horrendous politicians, etc. I've said, and meant, that I am neither proud nor ashamed of being American. It is simply a fact and I'm tired of being the butt of insults because of it. It's bad enough that I have to be afraid to travel to certain parts of the world for no reason other than the fact that I was born and raised in the USA, but I don't think we have put up with people of other nations putting us down for no reason other than our nationality. So, very simple . . . I'm not going to put up with it and I'm going to say something about it no matter who decides to write that sort of post on this web site, blood pressure notwithstanding. I'll take care of my own blood pressure, thank you very much.

 

Now I'll lighten up again.

[Guest MonkeySee]

It is simply a fact and I'm tired of being the butt of insults because of it.

No one likes to be insulted. I do not take it personal. You have no control over the ignorance of others. I am sure other nationalities do not like the typical national stereotypes. The French being cowards with poor personal hygiene, the British without emotion and always with the stiff upper lip, the Irish being big drinkers, the Scots being cheap, Germans with their Nazi heritage, and the list goes on. Nobody likes it. I guess if it makes you feel better to throw a hissy fit, have at it. For me, I find it best to lighten up and let the comment roll off your back like water on a duck. Too each his own.

 

[Guest MonkeySee]

This article gives more information about the swimmer and Suu Kyi. Hard to believe the generals are arresting Suu Kyi and her housekeepers. What a corrupt regime.

 

By HANNAH BEECH Hannah Beech – Thu May 14, 6:25 am ET

The Lady was in court, but with the trial in Burma's commercial capital Rangoon closed to the public, few knew whether she wore her trademark flowers in her hair. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who's known in Burma simply as "the Lady," was dragged to the notorious Insein Prison on Thursday morning to face charges of disobeying the terms of her house arrest. On May 3, according to the Burmese state press, an American man illegally swam across a lake to Suu Kyi's waterfront villa and snuck into her compound for two nights. Foreigners are not allowed to stay overnight in Burmese houses - and Suu Kyi is no ordinary lady. The leader of Burma's crushed democratic opposition, she has been confined to her crumbling home by the ruling junta for much of the past two decades. Her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), won nationwide elections by a landslide in 1990 only to have the military regime, which has been in power since 1962, ignore them.

 

 

Suu Kyi's trial is due to begin on May 18, according to one of her lawyers. Two housekeepers, who have lived with Suu Kyi since her latest stint of house arrest began in 2003, were also charged. A doctor, one of the only other people with regular access to the opposition leader, was detained a day after the swimmer was arrested while trying to swim back to shore from Suu Kyi's home. Though Suu Kyi's lawyer has said she was upset to discover an unexpected visitor in her home, the democracy activist could still face five years in jail if she is convicted. (See pictures of Burma after Cyclone Nargis.)

 

 

After several days of stone-walling by the Burmese regime, an American diplomat was allowed to meet with the detained American swimmer, who was identified by the official Burmese media as 53-year-old former military serviceman John William Yettaw of Falcon, Missouri. Previous articles about him in the state press spelled his name different ways, but U.S. public records online do point to the existence of a John W. Yettaw residing in the Ozarks. Kyi Win, another of Suu Kyi's lawers, said that her uninvited guest was a Mormon; a 2007 obituary for a son of John W. Yettaw said the deceased young man had also been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

 

 

On Thursday morning, along with the charges read against Suu Kyi and her housekeepers, Yettaw was charged with entering a restricted area and contravening immigration regulations. His motives for his alleged lake exploits remain unclear.

 

 

The incident of the midnight swimmer came just weeks before Suu Kyi's latest round of house arrest was set to expire. But, even prior to the charges stemming from Yettaw's visit, another of her laywers said that her latest appeal for freedom had been denied by the junta. Some international observers had hoped that the military regime would soften its grip on Suu Kyi as the country prepares for elections next year. The army government calls the polls the final step in its formation of a "discipline-flourishing democracy." But scores of NLD members languish in jail, and intimidation of opposition parties by junta goons continues unabated. Polls may well be held in 2010, but they will not take place on a level playing field. Top posts will be reserved for members of the military, and arcane rules have been designed to keep Suu Kyi and other NLD stalwarts from running for office. Burma-watchers also fear that ballot boxes will be stuffed to ensure that the military doesn't lose as it did so spectacularly in 1990.

 

 

In the days after her aquatic houseguest visited, Suu Kyi was reportedly feeling unwell. NLD colleagues reported that she was feeling dehydrated and was suffering from low blood pressure. The health of the 63-year-old is watched anxiously not only by Burma's democratic opposition, but by many other Burmese who revere her with a singular - if hushed - devotion. On sensitive dates related to the doomed democracy movement, some women put flowers in their hair, a subtle show of support for the silenced activist. Now, with the Lady suddenly in jail, flowers may bloom in Rangoon anew.

 

[Guest MonkeySee]

At the risk of insulting some of our sensitive American readers, it looks like the Suu Kyi swimmer was just a crazed religious nut and want-a-be author from the back hills of the Ozarks.

 

Here’s the news report from Washington and published by ST:

 

WASHINGTON - THE middle-aged American blamed for landing Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in jail is said to be a Mormon father of seven and Vietnam War veteran with a quixotic world view.

 

The little that is known about John William Yettaw, 53, suggests the Missouri native thought he was helping Aung San Suu Kyi’s cause by swimming to her lakeside home and staying uninvited.

 

‘We have to blame him,’ the Nobel laureate’s chief lawyer Kyi Win said, after Myanmar’s military junta triggered global outrage by charging Aung San Suu Kyi Thursday with breaching the terms of her house arrest.

 

‘He is a fool,’ the lawyer said.

 

Yettaw took photographs of himself before his escapade, sporting home-made flippers for his swim across the lake in Yangon. He is wearing a short-sleeved shirt and looks heavy-set.

 

The opposition newspaper Irrawady called him a ’stalker’ and the latest in a long line of naive Western protestors who have done more harm than good to Myanmar’s beleaguered democracy movement.

 

Yettaw had told exiled Myanmar groups in Thailand that he was ‘working on a faith-based book on heroism,’ it reported, and added: ‘He is simply a weird character who acted alone.’ In Washington, the US Campaign for Burma was similarly scathing.

 

‘He’s just some guy who didn’t really think through his plan and the consequences it would have in trying to sneak on to her property,’ the group’s advocacy director Jennifer Quigley said. ‘We are just as surprised at the turn of events as everybody else is,’ she told AFP.

 

The State Department in Washington said that Myanmar authorities allowed a US diplomat to attend a court hearing for Yettaw on Thursday. But while condemning the arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi, the department declined to make any other comment on Yettaw, who is reportedly a diabetic.

 

The office of powerful Democrat Ike Skelton, whose Missouri district encompasses Yettaw’s hometown in the US House of Representatives, also said it could not comment.

 

http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/05/west-c...es-asia-silent/

[Gaybutton]

At the risk of insulting some of our sensitive American readers

My friend, please believe me. For the sake of all concerned, I suggest the present risk also be the last risk. Some of the remarks you're making are offending posters here and I am receiving PMs complaining about it. I would rather not be placed in the position of having to do anything more than I'm doing in this post. If you simply stop making these kinds of remarks, then there is no problem for me to have to step in and solve.

[Guest lvdkeyes]

At the risk of insulting some of our sensitive American readers,

Your snide remarks are very rude and uncalled for. As for being too sensitive, maybe I am, but it appears that others are as sensitive to your insults. It seems your comments are made for no other reason that to irritate people. I wasn't aware that this board was for the purpose of insulting others.

[Gaybutton]

I wasn't aware that this board was for the purpose of insulting others.

It isn't. I'm never happy when it becomes necessary to put on my moderator's hat, but that's what I'm going to do now before a minor dispute becomes a major dispute.

 

I can see where this can go, so it's not going to go at all.

 

Thread locked.

 

Rest assured that if this continues on another thread, the posts will be deleted and whoever starts it up will be placed on moderated mode.