As Case Goes to High Court, Kachin Women Maintain Husbands’ Innocence

22nd July 2015
The judges presiding over the trials have also repeatedly blocked the defense’s attempts to introduce witness testimony that both
men were working as day laborers or were at the IDP camp at the specific times that they were alleged by prosecutors to be receiving
explosives training and engaging in other illegal activities.
After a series of hearings that were later criticized by a UN panel for being heavily biased against the defendants, both men were
convicted on a number of charges relating to explosives and being a member of an illegal organization, the KIA, which is the armed
wing of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO). Lahphai Gam, 56, received a sentence of 20 years in prison, while the younger
Brang Yung, 25, was given 21 years.
...Thein Sein has so far failed to act on the formal request issued last October by a coalition of Kachin civil society groups to
grant Brang Yung and Lahpai Gam a pardon of their own. The pair have instead had much better success internationally: In separate
decisions that were released last year, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled that the men’s continued detention was
illegal under international law and called for their immediate release. Their cases were brought to the UN group by lawyers working
with the London-based Burma Campaign UK, an advocacy group that has taken a strong interest in the plight of civilians caught up in
the Kachin conflict.
...Mar Hkar, who believes that the UN working group’s decisions strongly bolster his clients claims of innocence, says he was very
pleased that the Burma Campaign UK got involved with the case. In doing so, he says, the group has drawn attention to the ongoing
human rights situation in Kachin State, which in many ways has been overshadowed by developments in the rest of the country.

ref:irrawaddy.org

Karen refugee signs for English football team

.Now 18 and possessing a first professional contract with the four-time FA Cup winners and 1898 English champions, Kler allows
himself to dream again.
“I would love to play in the Premier League one day but at present my goal is to impress [manager] Nigel Adkins and [under-21 coach]
Chris Morgan, and repay Sheffield United for the faith that they have shown to me,” he told Reuters.
Kler Heh is a skilful winger who will play in United’s under-21 side this year and push for first-team opportunities with the
Blades, who made the semi-finals of the League Cup last season but narrowly missed out on promotion back to the second tier.

MPs debate definition of ‘political prisoner’

22nd July 2015
On Tuesday in parliament, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Brig-Gen Kyaw Kyaw Tun said the term ‘political prisoner’ is
unconstitutional as it contravenes the charter’s Article 347, which provides every person equal rights under the law.
...Speaking to DVB after the parliamentary session, May Win Myint said, “I raised the question to the ministry as I am a former
political prisoner myself and I believe that a prisoner of conscience can in no way be the same as a criminal inmate. The deputy
minister said the system that classified different statuses for inmates had been abolished.”
She said that Kyaw Kyaw Tun added that the Union Revolutionary Council government, of the former military dictator Gen. Ne Win, on
15 January 1964 issued an ordinance abolishing classification of different political prisoner statuses to ensure there is no
privileged class of inmates in Burmese prisons.
“He [Kyaw Kyaw Tun] implied that political inmates should be treated the same as criminal inmates to avoid discrimination – I am
saddened to hear that,” said May Win Myint.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the chairperson of May Win Myint’s party, the National League for Democracy, weighed in on behalf of her colleague
after the parliamentary session when she told reporters that the deputy home minister’s explanation is inconsistent with government
policy.
“Someone who lands in jail for political reasons is simply a political prisoner,” she said. “The government itself formed a
committee to oversee the release of political prisoners. Now the deputy Home Affairs minister is rejecting the term. I think this is
inconsistent.”

Ref:dvb.no

MPs debate definition of ‘political prisoner’

There's an art exhibition this Saturday 25th July in Westminster. On Sunday 26th July the Karenni Student Development Programme
(KSDP) Charity  has an Open Garden Fundraiser near Alexandra Palace and will give an update on a new clinic. There will also be a
protest on Saturday 8th August at the Burma/Myanmar Embassy to remember 8th August 1988 when the military killed thousands of
student protestors. See events details below.

ref:dvb.no

Myanmar Herald editors fined for insulting president

22nd July 2015
Two editors from the Myanmar Herald news publication were found guilty of defamation and fined by a court in Naypyidaw on Tuesday.
At their 20th hearing in the trial, the journal’s chief editor Kyaw Swar Win and former deputy-chief editor Ant Khaung Min were
sentenced by the Pobbathiri township court to each pay a fine of one million kyat (US$833) or serve six months in prison.
....The charges relate to an interview with political theorist Myo Yan Naung Thein, published in August last year, who criticised
President Thein Sein of “spouting gibberish, irrational, cheap and inconsistent words” that were “completely nonsensical, absurd and
insane”.

Ref.dvb.no

Naw Ohn Hla handed additional sentence 'with hard labour'

Naw Ohn Hla handed additional sentence 'with hard labour'
Incarcerated political activist Naw Ohn Hla has been handed an additional six-month sentence for allegedly disturbing religious
assembly eight years ago.
The charge relates to Naw Ohn Hla's 'Tuesday prayer sessions', a weekly silent protest held in 2007 calling for the release of Aung
San Suu Kyi who was then under house arrest by the ruling military junta.
....
Naw Ohn Hla is currently incarcerated for staging a demonstration outside the Chinese embassy against the Latpadaung copper mining
project. She and six others were protesting the death of Latpadaung villager Khin Win, who died of a gunshot wound to the head
during a confrontation with the police at the mining site.

ref:dvb.no

Family visits banned for Letpadan activists

Family visits banned for Letpadan activists
Thirty-five activists facing charges for their involvement in the Letpadan education protest have been banned from receiving visits
in Tharawaddy prison amid allegations of family members smuggling prohibited items to their loved ones in jail.
According to local resident and activist supporter, Kyaw Naing Oo, the Tharawaddy prisoners were discovered carrying cigarettes and
betel quid, a cigarette substitute comprised of ground areca nut, tobacco and lime wrapped in a betel leaf, as they were returning
from a court hearing on 16 June.
"After the court hearing last Tuesday, the students brought back cigarettes. For that, the officials accused them of bringing
prohibited items into the prison and sought disciplinary action against them," said Kyaw Naing Oo on Wednesday.
"According to the prison manual, the prison authorities are to provide the prisoners with cigarettes," said the lawyer.
"I was released in 2010 and as of then, the prisoners were still allowed betel quid but now the officials are saying it is a
'prohibited item'. I view this as an obstruction of personal freedom and a violation of human rights."

Ref: dvb.no