Myanmar Sentences 14 Democracy Supporters

[Coventina]

Source: New York Times

BANGKOK -- Myanmar’s military leadership continued its crackdown on dissent Tuesday, handing down prison sentences of 65 years to 14 pro-democracy activists.

The convictions came a day after a blogger was sentenced to 20 years for “creating public alarm,” among other offenses.

Tuesday’s sentences were delivered by judges operating within the compound of Insein prison, which holds many of the country’s estimated 2,000 political prisoners. Family members spoke to news agency reporters in Yangon, the country’s largest city, and said that they and defense lawyers were not allowed into the courtroom.

(snip)

Some of the activists were reportedly veterans of 1988 pro-democracy uprising that nearly succeeded in toppling the country’s military leaders. The activists were arrested in August 2007 in the early stages of the protests that swelled into mass demonstrations led by monks that were violently put down.




Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/world/asia/12myanmar.html?hp

[LiberalLovinLug]

1. If there ever was a need for military intervention

this is the place. I'm generally a pacifist, but here is a country that is run by a group of generals so vile, corrupt and sadistic. This is a place that actually had democratic elections, but the "wrong" candidate won, in the eyes of the junta, and she was put under house arrest, and anyone calling for the respect of the results of the vote are imprisoned and tortured.

I don't know a better example of a people that needs outside help to regain what they lost. In Iraq and Afghanistan they did not have (fair) democratic elections before, and they did not ask for democracy to be forced onto them. But in Mayanmar, the people not only wanted it, but chose a leader. And the people have been denied their right to that leadership. If America and the rest of the free world for that matter, really cared about fighting for democracy, Mayanmar would be the place to look first.

Of course with China owning America's ass, they're being told to shut up about it and not to dare even think about it. Not that the present junta in the White House gives a rat's ass about it anyways.