Suu Kyi Denied Access to News (IRRAWADDY WEB NEWS)
Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is denied access to a radio during her time in Rangoon’s Insein Prison, according to her lawyer, Nyan Win.
Suu Kyi was able to keep in touch with world events by listening to the radio during her house detention, but that possibility has been denied her since she was removed to Insein Prison, where she is on trial for transgressing the terms of her house arrest.
Nyan Win said Suu Kyi was allowed to read the state-controlled press, but was denied the possibility of receiving “uncensored information via foreign broadcasting.”
Nyan Win met Suu Kyi on Wednesday, and said afterwards that she was in a good mood and healthy.
The meeting was to allow Nyan Win to prepare for Suu Kyi’s next appearance in court, scheduled for Friday. He said he didn’t know if a verdict could be expected then. She faces a sentence of up to five years imprisonment if convicted of allowing an American intruder to stay at her home.
A scheduled session of the trial last Friday was postponed because of the visit to Burma by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The UN chief asked for a meeting with Suu Kyi, but his request was rejected by junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe.
“I believe the government of Myanmar [Burma] has lost a unique opportunity to show its commitment to a new era of political openness,” Ban commented.
“Allowing a visit to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would have been an important symbol of the government’s willingness to embark on the kind of meaningful engagement that will be essential if the elections in 2010 are to be seen as credible,” he said.
Ban is expected to brief the UN Security Council shortly on his Burma visit.
Analysts say the Burma issue is sure to be raised before the Security Council in August, when the UK has the chair, and in September, when the US takes over the position.
Burma has been able in the past to rely on the vetoes of two permanent members of the Security Council, China and Russia, to block unfavorable resolutions. But diplomatic sources say China is disappointed by the Burmese regime’s treatment of Ban.
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