Nine monks and seven nuns—some of them elderly—were awaiting sentence after facing charges of involvement in last September’s protests against Burma’s ruling junta, according to opposition sources and witnesses in Rangoon.
Witnesses said that eight monks and seven nuns from Thitsar Tharaphu Monastery and one monk from Hantharwaddy Monastery appeared in North Okkalapa Township Court on Wednesday, but nothing has been heard of their fate.
All 16 were arrested in raids on their monasteries on October 6 last year, accused of participating in monk-led demonstrations that ended after a bloody crackdown in late September.
According to witnesses, police prevented family members from approaching the detained clerics—who had been stripped of their robes and dressed in traditional longyi—as they were taken into the courthouse.
“I met [their relatives] at the courthouse,” said one witness. “They were so poor themselves that they could only bring small offerings—just a cup of tea and a cheroot.”
Another witness said that several of the accused were in extremely poor physical condition.
“One nun in her eighties, Daw Ponnami, had to struggle to walk because she is half-paralyzed. She had to drag her feet to get to the bar to face charges,” the witness said, adding that the nun’s normally shaven head was covered with short white hair.
“The older monks and nuns looked physically exhausted, and one of the elder monks was suffering from a skin disease,” the witness said.
One paralyzed 70-year-old monk was unable to answer any of the questions put to him by the judge, according to the witness.
Witnesses said that eight monks and seven nuns from Thitsar Tharaphu Monastery and one monk from Hantharwaddy Monastery appeared in North Okkalapa Township Court on Wednesday, but nothing has been heard of their fate.
All 16 were arrested in raids on their monasteries on October 6 last year, accused of participating in monk-led demonstrations that ended after a bloody crackdown in late September.
According to witnesses, police prevented family members from approaching the detained clerics—who had been stripped of their robes and dressed in traditional longyi—as they were taken into the courthouse.
“I met [their relatives] at the courthouse,” said one witness. “They were so poor themselves that they could only bring small offerings—just a cup of tea and a cheroot.”
Another witness said that several of the accused were in extremely poor physical condition.
“One nun in her eighties, Daw Ponnami, had to struggle to walk because she is half-paralyzed. She had to drag her feet to get to the bar to face charges,” the witness said, adding that the nun’s normally shaven head was covered with short white hair.
“The older monks and nuns looked physically exhausted, and one of the elder monks was suffering from a skin disease,” the witness said.
One paralyzed 70-year-old monk was unable to answer any of the questions put to him by the judge, according to the witness.
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