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| Women in Buddhism: Originally equal, demoted by monks, blamed on the Buddha |
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| Worldwide protests, such as this one in Japan, were needed to gain Daw Suu's liberty (AFP) |
Introducing
Suu Kyi, Norwegian Nobel Committee Chairman Thorbjorn Jagland hailed her
as a champion of mankind, whose words give hope to the world. He added
that his committee was right to award her the prize, and that thanks to
people like her, democratic states will always prevail over autocratic
ones.
RANGOON (AFP) - The opposition party of Burmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to announce its return to the official political arena on Friday after years of marginalization by ruling [totalitarian] generals.
Senior members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) are to gather in Rangoon to decide whether to re-register as a political party, after boycotting elections last year -- the first to be held in Burma for 20 years.
Democracy in Burma? The US military would sooner force our version of democracy on Afghanistan through the barrel of a gun -- as Family Guy's Stewie and Private Brian find.
The NLD won a landslide victory in polls in 1990 but the win was never recognized by the then-ruling [military dictatorship] junta.
The party refused to take part in last November's vote mainly because of rules that would have forced it to expel imprisoned members. Suu Kyi was under house arrest at the time.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner, who has spent most of the last two decades in detention, was released a few days after the polls and now appears to be planning an entrance to the mainstream political process.
"On the whole I think the great majority of our people will go in for re-registration," 66-year-old Suu Kyi told the BBC on Thursday. More
Burmese authorities have freed John Yettaw, who was convicted and sentenced following his uninvited visit to pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s house. In charges stemming from that incident, Ms. Suu Kyi was given an additional 18-month sentence, extending a detention that has lasted for much of the last 19 years.
While the United States welcomes Mr. Yettaw’s release, it remains very concerned about the continued detention of Ms. Suu Kyi and more than 2,100 other political prisoners, including Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, and Su Su Nwe, who have been denied their liberty because of their pursuit of a government that respects the will, rights, and aspirations of all Burmese citizens. While traveling in Burma in early May, Mr. Yettaw swam across a lake near Ms. Suu Kyi's home, driven he said by a vision that terrorists were bent on killing her. More>>
NYAYPIDAW, Burma - U.S. Senator Jim Webb (D - Va.) traveled to Burma. He met with its dictator (Gen. Than Shwe) and has succeeded in winning the release Saturday of American prisoner John Yettaw. Yettaw was convict-ed in Burma and sentenced to seven years in prison with hard labor for illegally swim-ming to the residence of de-tained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the senator's office said. More>>PHOTOS: U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, a Virginia Democrat, and his wife, Hong Le Webb, pose for photo at the world-famous Shwedagon Pagoda, which houses the Buddha's relics on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009, in Rangoon, Burma (AP/Khin Maung Win). Monks and citizens during the Saffron Revolution peacefully petitioning for the Lady's safe release (Reuters).
But a fleeting emergence into public view showed that Suu Kyi's steely grace and charisma, along with her popularity, are intact. She remains a potentially potent force for change in a country that has seen virtually no deviation from harsh military rule for nearly half a century.
Updates available at USCampaignForBurma.org
YANGON, Burma – A Burmese official says the trial of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has resumed. The widely criticized proceedings started up again Friday with defense lawyers and prosecutors expected to present final arguments. A conviction on her record will mean she is not qualified to contest next year's elections, which seems to be the dictatorship of Gen. Than Shwe's ulterior motive.The Burmese official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest by harboring an American man who swam secretly to her lakeside home and stayed for two days. Suu Kyi faces up to five years in prison if found guilty.
Burma Coverage
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IMAGES: Short profile including history of arrests and information. The trial of Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi entered its final stage as her lawyers delivered closing arguments in a bid to save her from five years in jail, her party said (AFP/Graphic); a 1995 file photo shows democratic opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Burma's state media denounced criticism of its planned elections and ongoing detention of Suu Kyi as she faced her final trial hearing at the aptly named Insein prison (AFP/Manuel Ceneta).
Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace laureate, is in prison and being tried on charges of violating the terms of her house arrest after an uninvited American man swam to her closely guarded lakeside home last month and stayed two days. But Suu Kyi's own party supports such a visit, and other countries say the alternative is to do nothing and miss an opportunity to have the U.N. chief press for Suu Kyi's release and push for more open and inclusive elections next year. Details of the visit of Ibrahim Gambari, who arrived Friday, have not been disclosed by the U.N., but some officials in Myanmar's diplomatic community spoke openly about it.
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Hollywood star Julia Roberts and detained Chinese acti-vists are among celebrities and political prisoners tweet-ing and signing petitions for the release of Burma's dem-ocracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, organizers said today.The ruling military dictatorship or junta is widely expected to deliver a guilty verdict, which could put the Nobel Peace Prize laureate in prison for up to five years. She has already spent more than 13 of the last 19 years under house arrest.
U.S. citizen John Wm. Yettaw in Yangon (Reuters/Myanma News Agency/handout).
However, few outsiders were able to view the unique video because the court again closed the proceedings, barring reporters and diplomats after allowing them to attend a single session on Wednesday.
The May 3 visit of John W. Yettaw, of Falcon, Missouri, who was not invited to Suu Kyi's lakeside compound, has ensnared her in a legal mess that could sink her chances of ending six years of continuous detention without trial. She has spent more than 13 of the past 19 years locked up because of her opposition to the country's military government.
Suu Kyi, two female members of her party who live with her under house arrest, and the 53-year-old Yettaw are being tried together for violating the conditions of her detention order, which bans visitors without official permission. The offense is punishable by up to five years' imprisonment.
Suu Kyi had been scheduled to be freed May 27, after which the law does not appear to allow her to be held.
The charges against her are widely seen as a pretext for the government to keep her detained through polls it has scheduled for next year as the culmination of a "roadmap to democracy," which has been criticized as a fig leaf for continued military rule. More>>
Burmese Buddhist nuns pause near the head office of detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy in Yangon today (5/21/09). Burma's military junta closed the trial of Suu Kyi to reporters and diplomats again today, sparking complaints that the regime was trying to hide the widely criticized proceedings from the world(AP/Khin Maung Win).
