Monday, August 24, 2009

Burma's other prisoners still a concern

Editorial reflecting the views of the US Government (VOA, 8/21/09)

John Yettaw is helped off plane at a Bangkok airport/Aung San Suu Kyi (AP/VOA).

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>>