

"The police should release them immediately as everyone should be entitled to the freedom of assembly and expression. The event was a special one because it is a celebration for Aung San Suu Kyi's 64th birthday," he added.
Aung San Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the past 19 years in detention and is now being held in Rangoon's notorious Insein Prison during her trial for a bizarre incident in which an American man swam to her home.
She faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
Her birthday last Friday was marked with protests from around the world, as activists took to the Internet and staged worldwide protests to call for her release and an end to her trial. - AFP


For me the Burmese seemed like the most honest and warmest people I have encountered anywhere in Asia. Because of that one visit I have always had a soft spot for any Burmese I meet - especially after seeing their suffering under the corrupt and demented military junta which seized power in 1988, having lost the election to Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy.
Until 1997 the military junta was known as the sinister-sounding State Law and Order Restoration Council or SLORC. Renaming itself the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) hasn't improved their reputation or their human rights track record one bit - except with a few opportunistic investors from Singapore and Malaysia who appear quite unperturbed about having to do business with such inhuman monsters. Is this because they are actually no different than the Burmese military junta in their attitude towards democratic principles and human rights?

Not only has the Umno/BN regime been quick to deny everything and dismiss the damning US State Department report, they have also refused to take action against the perpetrators without "concrete evidence."
We have the evidence right before our eyes - in the brutal, Orc-like (or should we say, SLORC-like) way the police and immigration personnel are mistreating these temporary guests in "Malaysia Truly Asia" which claims to be oh-so-hospitable (but only to big-spending tourists and potential investors).
I am not generally prone to violence or vindictiveness, but when I read that the police had disrupted a modest celebration in honor of Aung San Suu Kyi's 64th birthday on June 19th, I literally saw RED!
As if that wasn't stupidly barbaric enough, they actually arrested and detained 16 Burmese refugees who had been specially invited to the event by SUARAM - a local human rights NGO. Two Burmese were later released because they happened to be carrying the necessary documents - but the rest are being held incommunicado, presumably by the Immigration Department (which comes under the Homo Ministry)... and now they face deportation and almost certain imprisonment and torture back home.
Why did the homo minister order such a malicious crackdown on Aung San Suu Kyi's humble birthday event in Petaling Jaya? Is it because he's afraid of offending his business partners in the Burmese military junta? Or perhaps he simply wants to discourage Malaysians from taking to the streets and lighting candles for dangerous notions like freedom, justice and truth?
Hishammuddin son of Hussein Onn, listen up good. I'm talking to YOU!
If any more of these hapless refugees comes to harm because of the despicable, loathsome and totally indefensible actions of your police and immigration personnel... I shall personally ensure that you and your descendants are permanently barred from the Heavenly Realms. I kid you not.
