Suu Kyi to be released?

Suu Kyi to be released?
YANGON- THE party of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said on Tuesday it was hopeful that she would be unconditionally released after a court agreed to hear an appeal against her recent conviction.

Lawyers for the Nobel laureate and the country's ruling junta are due to present legal arguments on September 18, after Suu Kyi challenged last month's guilty verdict for sheltering an American man who swam to her lakeside home.

The regime has ordered her to spend another 18 months under house arrest, softening the original sentence of three years' hard labour. However, the house arrest is still long enough to keep Myanmar's opposition leader away from the political scene during elections scheduled for 2010.

'There could be changes as the court has accepted our appeal,' said Nyan Win, her lawyer and a spokesman for her National League for Democracy (NLD), referring to Yangon divisional court's decision on Friday to hear the case. 'We are hoping for her unconditional release, which is also what we wanted.'



'We will meet with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi this week after we got permission from the authorities. We need to get last instructions from her for the final arguments,' Nyan Win said. Daw is a term of respect in Burmese.

The appeal would focus on the fact that a 1974 constitution under which the 64-year-old was originally detained had been superseded by a new constitution approved last year, her lawyers have said.

The guilty verdict sparked international outrage and the imposition of further sanctions against Myanmar's powerful generals, who have already kept Suu Kyi locked up for 14 of the past 20 years.

Suu Kyi insisted on her innocence during the trial held at Yangon's notorious Insein Prison, saying that she allowed US military veteran John Yettaw to stay for two nights at her home because he was ill.

Mr Yettaw was sentenced to seven years' hard labour for the stunt in early May, but was freed after a visit by US senator Jim Webb last month on what the regime said were compassionate grounds because of health problems. -- AFP http://www.straitst imes.com/ Breaking% 2BNews/SE% 2BAsia/Story/ STIStory_ 426926.html
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Businessmen keep wary eye on Kachin situation
News - Shan Herald Agency for News
Tuesday, 08 September 2009 08:31

Burmese and Chinese businessmen, who have invested in Laiza town, the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), are keeping a wary eye on the relationship between the Burmese military junta and the KIO.

Relations between the junta and the ethnic ceasefire group in Kachin State have soured and are terribly strained after the junta proposed that it transform its armed wing, the Kachin Independence Army into the Border Guard Force, which the KIO rejected. Instead it told the junta brass that it wants the KIA to change to a Kachin Regional Guard Force (KRGF) and also demanded a stake in the new Kachin State Government to follow the 2010 general elections.
Businessmen in Laiza are closely monitoring the situation because if it deteriorates, they will move their properties. They are especially alert after news leaked out about meetings between the KIO and the junta brass, a local businessman said.

On September 4, senior KIO leaders and the organisation’ s regional administrative officers and campaigners held a meeting in Laiza Hotel in the morning.

"I want to keep watch until October. If the situation worsens we will leave. Some shops are already closed. I do not know where they have moved their goods," a shop owner said.

The investors are mostly Chinese. They have invested in motorcycle companies, construction tool firms, textile shops, and shops dealing in electronic and related items.

Ceasefire groups on the Sino-Burma border, which have opposed transformation to the Border Guard Force, have no plans to extend their business since tension began mounting and clashes occurred between the Burmese Army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) last month.

Now, some Chinese businessmen have closed their shops in Laiza. Some shops have downed shutters in Laiza market, a local said.

Many people have hired rooms and space on the Chinese side of Laiza. Chinese authorities are therefore compiling a list.

"Locals are also moving their belongings. People from China have lots of investments in Kachin State. Some people have already moved their goods and belongings. While some shops are already closed, gambling dens are still open," he added.

Most businessmen are from China and some are from Myitkyina and Bhamo, who have opened stores in Laiza.

Even though people are apprehensive, the KIO has not made any public announcement on the prevailing situation.

Local sources, said after the Burmese Army and Kokang Army fought gun battles near the Sino-Burma border in northern Shan State, the junta has deployed more troops near Laiza town.

KIO along with other ceasefire armed groups are being pressurized by the junta to transform to the Border Guard Force within October. As such people watching the situation with keen interest and apprehension. http://www.bnionlin e.net/news/ shan/6984- businessmen- keep-wary- eye-on-kachin- situation. html