Verdict delayed until August 11.
Something’s up. It’s Friday morning over here. They were just about to announce the verdict. Been warning journalists for a day not to guess the verdict ahead of time, but really, they started posting troops everywhere in Rangoon, and no political prisoner in Burma has EVER been released, so what did they expect? Now suddenly they delay the verdict.
This incorrect headline below was circulated around the world over the weekend by AFP. This particular example is from the Kuwait Times:
Bangkok Prison Court Postpones Verdict on Nobel Peace Laureate
No, the trial is being held in Rangoon, certainly not in Bangkok.
Verdict in. Another 18 months under house arrest. A local source says she was sentenced to 3 years’ hard labour in prison at first, which was then commuted to the further 18 months further house arrest; CNN does not mention the first 3-year sentence. That jerk, Yettaw, got 7 years’ hard labor. Stories here and here.
World condemnation over Suu Kyi’s sentence. Not that the junta will care. But it’s quite possible, if not probable, that international pressure mitigated the harshness of the sentence. But there was never a chance that she would be available for next year’s “elections.” Funny how she’ll JUST miss them.
As for that Yettaw jerkoff, they can do whatever they want with him and good riddance.
Looks like black magic played a part in Suu Kyi’s trial. Story here. This would really beggar belief if I weren’t so use to this already.
This stupid junta really, really takes the cake. :mad:
BBC TV says US Senator Jim Webb is talking to Aung San Suu Kyi right now at a government guest house in Rangon. He’s the highest-ranking American official to visit Burma since before the troubles began 21 years ago. Serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
I’m glad Webb went & got Yettaw’s release.
I just hope that he makes things better, not worse, for Suu Kyi.
It would have suited me just fine if Yettaw had never seen the light of day again. Shame they did not release the correct one, but then Suu Kyi has said she would never leave the country, because she knows full well they’ll never let her back in again. That’s why she never left to go see her ailing British husband before he died, during one of her few free periods in the last 20 years. The junta had refused her husband a visa to go visit her and encouraged Suu Kyi to go to England again to visit him, the crafty bastards.
Webb is calling for international pressure on China to influence the Burmese junta. Story here. That’s a worthy call even if China is almost as obstinate as the junta.
I suppose being a US senator and all that, he was bound to ask for Yettaw’s release, so I’ll reluctantly forgive him for that.
Burmese Puzzled and Angered by Yettaw’s Release
Damned straight they are. Who can blame them?