Anwar verdict resets Malaysian politics – Asia Times
January 10th, 2012
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/NA11Ae01.html
Leader of Malaysia's Islamist party PAS Abdul Hadi Awang arrives at the court Monday morning (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
KUALA LUMPUR – A not-guilty verdict in a sex scandal case against Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim could prove a game-changer in the run-up to elections due by 2013 but thought by many analysts to be held this year.
After months of railing against what he deemed trumped-up and politicized charges, Anwar cut an understandably cheerful and relieved dash on Monday morning when speaking to perhaps 3,000 supporters outside the Kuala Lumpur court where he was acquitted of charges of sodomizing a male party aide in 2008. Sodomy is a criminal offense punishable by 20 years in prison in Malaysia, where Muslim citizens are subject to sharia law. (more…)
After sodomy acquittal, Malaysia’s Anwar pressing for power – Christian Science Monitor
January 10th, 2012
Opposition supporters outside Malaysia's High Court on Monday morning (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
In an unexpected conclusion to a two-year trial, a Malaysian court acquitted opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on sodomy charges that he insisted were politically motivated.
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
Monday’s surprise acquittal of Malaysia’s opposition leader in a sodomy trial that many viewed as politically motivated eases the prospect of unrest in the multi-ethnic country, one of southeast Asia’s largest tourist draws
The potential for trouble was highlighted by three small explosions near the courthouse on Monday morning, injuring several people, while a jubilant Anwar Ibrahim mingled with a raucous, fist-pumping crowd of several thousand supporters. (more…)
Burmese Abroad Welcome Tax Break, but More Reforms Needed – The Irrawaddy
January 10th, 2012
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22805
Burmese migrant Ko Saw at work at Puchong 12, Kuala Lumpur (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
KUALA LUMPUR – The decision by the Burmese government to end the practice of collecting income tax from migrant workers abroad has been welcomed by Burmese across Southeast Asia, but some say that more needs to be done to make life easier for millions of Burmese working across the region.
In late 2011, the Burmese government announced that workers abroad would be exempt from Jan. 1, 2012, from paying a 10 percent salary levy, deemed by many to be an onerous and unjustifiable burden given that workers paid taxes in the country where they lived and worked.
In interviews last year, Burmese migrants in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand all railed against the levy, which had to be paid if Burmese nationals wished to renew their passport at the country’s embassy. (more…)
A decommissioned inquiry on Myanmar – Asia Times
January 9th, 2012
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/NA10Ae01.html
UN envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana pictured at Thailand's Foreign Correspondents Club (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
KUALA LUMPUR – When United Nations human-rights rapporteur Tomas Ojea Quintana recommended that the UN consider the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry (COI) into alleged crimes against humanity committed by the country’s military rulers, the proposal was widely supported by Western countries, including the United States, that maintained economic sanctions against the country.
Depending on the proposed commission’s findings, Myanmar’s former ruling generals and current governing ex-generals could some day be tried in some form of international tribunal or at the International Criminal Court. The proposed COI would determine whether or not charges should be brought against Myanmar’s rulers and would likely focus on the Myanmar army’s well-documented abuses in the ethnic minority-populated borderland regions.
The establishment of a COI seemed a remote possibility at the outset, given that UN Security Council unanimity would likely be needed to authorize it. (more…)
Conflicting signals on reform in Burma (Myanmar) – Christian Science Monitor/RTÉ World Report
January 6th, 2012
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2012/0105/Conflicting-signals-on-reform-in-Burma-Myanmar
9/1/12 radio report here http://www.rte.ie/news/av/2012/0108/worldreport.html#
BANGKOK – Burma’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi says she believes that her country will hold full democratic elections in her lifetime, a good sign for the country, which has long been notorious for its oppressive military rule.
Ms. Suu Kyi’s remarks came on the heels of three high profile visits to Burma (Myanmar): Both Hillary Clinton and billionaire businessman George Soros, longtime funder of exiled opposition groups, made the trip last month, and Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague arrived in Burma earlier today. (more…)
Calming ‘irrational exuberance’ over Burma – The Irrawaddy
December 22nd, 2011
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22700
Burma President Thein Sein pictured at the 2010 ASEAN/EAS summit in Hanoi, when he was Prime Minister under the military junta (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
ABU DHABI – Three weeks after U.S. Sec of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Burma, the U.S. says it “will be prepared to take further steps” provided the Burmese Government “keeps moving in the right direction”, according to a U.S. State Dept. spokesperson.
During her visit to Burma, the first to the country by an U.S. Sec. Of State since Burma was made a military dictatorship in 1962, Sec. Clinton announced a number of initiatives that the United States plans in Burma. These include increased assistance for civil society programs to support microcredit and health programs; a resumption of counternarcotics cooperation and operations to recover missing U.S. military personnel from World War II; and support for an expanded UNDP mandate in the areas of health, education, and micro-finance, as well as assessment missions by international financial institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
“We are currently taking steps to move forward on all of the actions that Secretary Clinton noted during her visit”, added the spokesperson, in an emailed response to questions about U.S. policy after the Clinton visit. (more…)
Inflation a concern as Vietnam’s small businesses struggle – The Diplomat
December 13th, 2011
Trang Hoang Yen (seated) checks over new t-shirt sample (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
http://the-diplomat.com/2011/12/13/vietnam-facing-economic-crisis/
HO CHI MINH CITY – With the streetlights warming to a low glow outside as dusk turns to dark, Trang Hoang Yen is still running t-shirts through a sewing machine as most of her staff leave for home.
“Normally we have a lot more workers, but the past year has been very hard for our sector,” she says, stopping work for a few minutes to talk.
Trang Hoang Yen’s small factory, on a side street in Ho Chi Minh City, has seen better days. Down from 30 to 14 staff year-on-year, she says the company’s input costs “have gone up, and production costs have doubled.” (more…)
Kachin conflict set to intensify – The Irrawaddy
December 9th, 2011
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22630
BANGKOK — The conflict in Kachin State is set to get worse after already displacing tens of thousands of civilians, many of whom rely on support from local aid groups desperately in need of international assistance, according to a leading advocacy group for refugees.
“Tensions between the government and KIO [Kachin Independence Organization] have reached boiling point,” said Lynn Yoshikawa of the US-based Refugees International (RI), who recently concluded a fact-finding trip to the war-torn state. (more…)
Thai court sentences American citizen to 2.5 years in prison for insulting monarchy – Christian Science Monitor
December 8th, 2011
Gordon's lawyer Anon Nampa, speaks to press outside the court after today's sentencing (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
BANGKOK - US citizen Joe Gordon was sentenced to 2-1/2 years jail today for translating a banned biography of the Thai king and posting it online while living in Colorado, drawing condemnation from free speech advocates and US officials.
Mr. Gordon is the latest to be charged on Thailand’s lèse-majesté laws, some of the strictest in the world, which include prohibitions on posting anti-monarchy slurs online and can mean a prison sentence of 3 to 15 years.
Exact figures are not available, but lèse-majesté cases and convictions have spiked in recent years amid political uncertainty since a 2006 military coup and concerns over what will happen when King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s long reign ends. (more…)
Thailand sentences American to prison for insulting king – Los Angeles Times
December 8th, 2011
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-thailand-american-20111209,0,607185.story
Thailand's PM Yingluck Shinawatra leads Bangkok candle-lighting celebration to mark King's birthday on Monday evening (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
By Simon Roughneen and Mark Magnier. Reporting from Bangkok, Thailand, and New Delhi, India
A U.S. citizen Thursday received a 30-month prison sentence in Thailand for insulting the king, the latest punishment handed down under a law critics see as archaic, prompting the U.S. government to denounce the ruling as excessive and a violation of free speech. (more…)
