OTTAWA—After American reporter John Yetta swam across a river to visit Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese democracy leader was arrested by the ruling military regime and charged with violating house arrest, under which she has been living for much of the past 18 years.
A group of Burmese and their supporters gathered in front of the Burmese Embassy Monday to speak out against the arrest and to call for Suu Kyi’s immediate release.
In addition to rallies in Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver, Burmese groups held events in over 30 countries, calling on their governments to put sanctions on Burma and to condemn the unfair arrest of Suu Kyi.
CFOB (Canadian Friends of Burma) executive director Tin Maung Htoo said he believes the military rulers are just testing the waters to see how far they can push the international community as they maintain power by removing the one person who has the hearts of the Burmese people.
He said the junta arrested Suu Kyi to eliminate any opposition and thus prevent a true democratic process from occurring in the 2010 election.
“If the international community’s response is not strong enough they will do whatever they want to do. They wouldn’t really allow any opposition to run in the election,” Tin said.
“This American made a big mistake; he couldn’t foresee what would happen, especially the timing—so close to when her house arrest would expire. So of course the military is taking advantage of this accident. She is innocent.”
Tin said there is also the possibility that the incident was a setup. Because it was reported in the junta’s mouthpiece publication, New Light of Myanmar, he thinks that could well be the case.
“When you look at [Yetta’s] personality it seems the military just took advantage of the situation.”
A group of Burmese and their supporters gathered in front of the Burmese Embassy Monday to speak out against the arrest and to call for Suu Kyi’s immediate release.
In addition to rallies in Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver, Burmese groups held events in over 30 countries, calling on their governments to put sanctions on Burma and to condemn the unfair arrest of Suu Kyi.
CFOB (Canadian Friends of Burma) executive director Tin Maung Htoo said he believes the military rulers are just testing the waters to see how far they can push the international community as they maintain power by removing the one person who has the hearts of the Burmese people.
He said the junta arrested Suu Kyi to eliminate any opposition and thus prevent a true democratic process from occurring in the 2010 election.
“If the international community’s response is not strong enough they will do whatever they want to do. They wouldn’t really allow any opposition to run in the election,” Tin said.
“This American made a big mistake; he couldn’t foresee what would happen, especially the timing—so close to when her house arrest would expire. So of course the military is taking advantage of this accident. She is innocent.”
Tin said there is also the possibility that the incident was a setup. Because it was reported in the junta’s mouthpiece publication, New Light of Myanmar, he thinks that could well be the case.
“When you look at [Yetta’s] personality it seems the military just took advantage of the situation.”
