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| Southeast Asia |
| Burmese junta move Suu Kyi to ’notorious’ jail |
| 2003-06-19 |
| Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese democracy leader arrested earlier this month, is being held in the "notorious" Insein jail outside Rangoon, according to the Foreign Office. There's another kind in Burma? Miss Suu Kyi was arrested nearly three weeks ago after clashes between a pro-junta mob and supporters from her National League for Democracy left at least four dead. The Burmese military government said she was being held in "protective custody" and last week Razali Ismail, the United Nations envoy, visited her in a defence ministry guesthouse. But Mike O'Brien, the Foreign Office minister, has said that Miss Suu Kyi, who is 58 today, has been moved to the Insein jail which has been criticised by human rights groups for its regime of beatings and filthy conditions. "Show and Tell is over, throw her in the jug!" Mr O'Brien said Miss Suu Kyi had not been given a change of clothes since her arrest and that he was "particularly disturbed" that she is being held under the 1975 State Protection Act. The law allows the military to detain prisoners for 180 days at a time for a total of five years without charge or appeal. It also stops prisoners' access to lawyers and relatives. That's, err, handy. Guess the hardliners won. Mr O'Brien said: "This completely discredits the regime's claim that she is being held in 'protective custody'. Not that we believed them. |
| Posted by:Steve |