'Crackling with energy', Suu Kyi finally emerges into the light

Source: The Independent

After nearly six years hidden from sight, suddenly yesterday Aung San Suu Kyi was back on public view – tranquil, composed, yet "crackling with energy".

Until yesterday Burma's democracy leader was being tried in secret, somewhere deep inside Rangoon's Insein prison. Then without warning or explanation, the generals threw open the doors of the court to diplomats and even a handful of (local) journalists.

Hardly anybody has set eyes on Ms Suu Kyi since she last disappeared behind the doors of her home in July 2003. UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari has met her a couple of times, at his insistence, as have the senior leadership of the National League for Democracy (NLD), her party. In November 2007 she came out of her home to pay respects to thousands of monks demonstrating against the regime who had succeeded in getting as far as her villa. But that's it.

No diplomats, no friends, no relatives, no journalists, no party members, practically no one has seen her – with the disastrous exception of John Yettaw, the American who got it into his head to swim Inya lake to drop in on her, and gave the regime the excuse to put her on trial.

But there she was in court, in a salmon Burmese jacket and maroon sarong, as poised as ever. "She was ramrod straight, dignified, composed," said British ambassador Mark Canning, a witness to the event in company with 10 other ambassadors. "She seemed to crackle with energy – you could see the way she commanded her defence team, and in fact commanded the wider courtroom."

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/crackling-with-energy-suu-kyi-finally-emerges-into-the-light-1688619.html

BBC World: Suu Kyi 'composed' at Burma trial
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8058804.stm

Times Online: Aung San Suu Kyi allowed to talk to diplomats at her trial
http://feeds.timesonline.co.uk/c/32313/f/440134/s/43ec85a/l/0L0Stimesonline0O0Ctol0Cnews0Cworld0Casia0Carticle63272520Bece0Tcid0FOTC0ERSS0Gattr0F20A15164/story01.htm

NYT: Myanmar Presses Case Against Pro-Democracy Leader
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=40a74e998d25b10875057cebd66ec0c0

NYT: Myanmar Allows Diplomats and Press at Activist?s Trial
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=3c7d6ecfdb9d80dfeb3a3f7d2b6a0843

WAPO: Backers of Suu Kyi Say Trial Is Meant to Ensure Her Detention During Burma Vote
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/~r/wp-dyn/rss/world/index_xml/~3/YBnZ4RGbUR4/AR2009051903264.html

The Guardian: Burma allows media into Suu Kyi trial
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/20/journalists-diplomats-allowed-suu-kyi-trial

Alertnet: US says Myanmar trial outrageous, vote illegitimate
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N20528308.htm

CNN Top Stories: UK envoy: Suu Kyi in 'good spirits'
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/20/myanmar.suu.kyi.trial/index.html?eref=edition

See, this kind of thing is why most of us don't like it when they come knocking on our door on Saturday morning. It's just a good thing he wasn't from the Jehovah's Witnesses. Who knows what would have happened to Aung San Suu Kyi then?

Thu, 21 May 2009 19:00:00 +0700
Asia Times: Trial by fire inside Insein Prison
In 1998, a 20-year-old university student stood in the same court and before the same judge that Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi faces now. He was charged with anti-government activities and received a 21-year sentence inside two of the military regime's most infamous prisons. This is his story.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/KE22Ae01.html

Thu, 21 May 2009 19:00:00 +0700
Asia Times: Myanmar's opposition vs Goliath
The bizarre arrest last week of Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi has left Myanmar's pro-democracy movement outraged and calling for action. Opposition leaders and exile groups want stiffer sanctions and tough talk from the international community, but so far they've only recieved the latter. Meanwhile, any hopes that the planned 2010 election would break a grinding political stalemate have been dashed.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/KE22Ae02.html

Thu, 21 May 2009 07:21:43 GMT
NYT: Myanmar Again Closes Trial of Democracy Advocate
With outrage growing over its prosecution of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar?s junta again closed her trial Thursday to diplomats.
http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=2b7e8d09a7c9377a9083d355a020c83a

Thu, 21 May 2009 07:44:06 GMT
Independent: Junta closes Suu Kyi hearing again
Burma's military junta returned to barring reporters and diplomats from pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's trial today, sparking complaints that it was trying to hide the widely criticized proceedings from the world.
http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/266/f/3503/s/440e9f7/l/0L0Sindependent0O0Cnews0Cworld0Casia0Cjunta0Ecloses0Esuu0Ekyi0Ehearing0Eagain0E16887680Bhtml/story01.htm

Thu, 21 May 2009 01:02:08 EDT
CNN Top Stories: Media, diplomats barred from Suu Kyi trial
Myanmar's government once again barred diplomats and journalists from the trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Thursday, after allowing them in for just one day. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate is being tried on allegations of subversion.
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/21/myanmar.suu.kyi.trial/index.html?eref=edition

Thu, 21 May 2009 03:39:00 +0000
Alertnet: VIDEO: Myanmar TV shows Suu Kyi images
Source: Reuters May 20 - Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared healthy in footage aired on state television on the third day of her trial at Yangon's notorious Insein Prison.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/124287723348.htm

Thu, 21 May 2009 04:29:07 GMT
BBC World: Diplomats barred from Burma trial
Burma bars international observers from the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, a day after allowing them in.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8060715.stm

Thu, 21 May 2009 03:28:00 +0000
Alertnet: VIDEO: Myanmar opens Suu Kyi trial
Source: Reuters May 20 - Army-ruled Myanmar opened the prison trial of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to a limited number of diplomats and journalists. Puja Bharwani reports.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/124287658317.htm

Thu, 21 May 2009 00:00:00 EDT
WAPO: Burma's Junta Allows Diplomats and Reporters to Attend Suu Kyi Trial
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, May 20 -- Burma's military rulers allowed foreign diplomats and Burmese reporters to attend the widely criticized trial of democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday, a move that observers said showed the junta's growing confidence in its legal case for continuing...
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/~r/wp-dyn/rss/world/index_xml/~3/6RxejPzOxj0/AR2009052003719.html

Thu, 21 May 2009 10:22:00 EDT
WAPO: Burma's Junta Bars Diplomats and Reporters From Suu Kyi Trial
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, May 21 -- Burma's military rulers said Thursday that reporters and foreign diplomats would no longer be allowed to attend the widely criticized trial of democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi, even as the United Nations' top diplomat said he was hoping to travel to Burma and...
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/~r/wp-dyn/rss/world/index_xml/~3/ofm_9RakDjQ/AR2009052101597.html

Thu, 21 May 2009 14:19:07 GMT
The Guardian: Media barred from Suu Kyi trial again
Censorship resumes after trial of opposition leader opened up for one dayBurma's ruling military junta today went back to barring the media and diplomats from the trial of the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi after she appeared in public yesterday for the first time in more than a year.Suu Kyi is accused of breaking the terms of her house arrest by allowing an American visitor, John Yettaw, to stay at her home without permission after he swam across a lake to visit her home uninvited.In a surprise concession yesterday the Burmese government allowed outsiders to observe the third day of the trial. It meant that reports of the proceedings and Suu Kyi's meeting with diplomats were shown prominently on state-run television and in government newspapers.Suu Kyi appeared to be in good health.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/21/suu-kyi-trial-closed-again

Fri, 22 May 2009 14:51:36 EDT
WAPO: Suu Kyi pleads not guilty in U.S. intruder case
YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi pleaded not guilty on Friday after a prison court formally charged the Nobel laureate for allowing an univited American intruder inside her home.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/22/AR2009052200302.html?wprss=rss_world

Fri, 22 May 2009 10:13:37 EDT
WAPO: Suu Kyi pleads not guilty in U.S. intruder case
YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi pleaded not guilty at her trial on Friday and blamed the regime's lax security for allowing an American intruder to swim uninvited to her lakeside home, her lawyers said.
http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/~r/wp-dyn/rss/world/index_xml/~3/XNiZma-H1X4/AR2009052200302.html

Fri, 22 May 2009 11:40:45 EDT
CNN Top Stories: Myanmar: Suu Kyi pleads not guilty
Aung San Suu Kyi declared herself innocent of charges she finally heard in court for the first time Friday, the fifth day of her trial on allegations of subversion.
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/22/myanmar.suu.kyi.trial/index.html?eref=edition

Fri, 22 May 2009 13:16:59 GMT
BBC World: Burma's Suu Kyi claims innocence
Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi tells Burmese judges she did not break the terms of her house arrest.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8063817.stm

Fri, 22 May 2009 09:01:31 GMT
The Guardian: Suu Kyi visit 'a plot to embarrass Burma'
? Junta brands man's visit to Suu Kyi 'anti-government stunt'? Trial of jailed opposition leader enters fifth dayAn American man's unauthorised visit to detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was a plot intended to embarrass the ruling military junta, the country's foreign minister claimed today .Suu Kyi, 63, is accused of breaking the terms of her house arrest by allowing an American visitor, John Yettaw, to stay at her home without permission after he swam across a lake to visit her. She faces five years in jail if convicted. Yettaw's motives remain unclear.As Suu Kyi's trial reached its fifth day, the foreign minister, U Nyan Win, claimed the incident was organised by "internal and external anti-government elements".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/22/burma-aung-san-suu-kyi-trial

What has been done to her, and to the people of Burma, is just horrendous.