Burma Related News - Dec 25-29, 2006.

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BURMA RELATED NEWS - DECEMBER 25-29, 2006.
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HEADLINES
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AFP - US vows to press on with UN resolution on Myanmar repression
Reuters - Thousands attend Myanmar rebel's funeral
Reuters - Army-ruled Myanmar adjourns constitution talks
Reuters - U.S. to push for UN Myanmar resolution early in 2007
IANS - Myanmar launches military crackdown on NSCN-K bases
IHT - US: Conditions in Myanmar threaten stability in region
NewKerala - Vice Chief flags-in Indo-Myanmar joint car rally
NewKerala - Rebels boosting poppy business in Myanmar
INQ7.net - Myanmar, Cambodia invite PNOC to join oil, gas search
PD - One killed, 3 injured in mine explosion in Myanmar
PD - Myanmar to build more small-scale hydropower plants in 2007
The Nation - Reflections on the 'hard man' of the KNU
DVB News - Farmer jailed for false claim against officials
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US vows to press on with UN resolution on Myanmar repression
Thu Dec 28, 3:43 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States vowed to press ahead with efforts
to push a resolution through the UN Security Council condemning
political repression in Myanmar, despite the reluctance of council
heavyweights China and Russia.

"We remain concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian and political
situation in Burma, which poses a threat to stability in the region,"
State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said, using the former name
for Myanmar.

"We believe the time has come for the Security Council to take action
to express its deep concern about Burma," he said, referring to a
US-drafted Security Council resolution demanding Myanmar's ruling
military release political prisoners and end operations against restive
ethnic minorities.

The United States introduced the resolution on December 13, but the
measure faced opposition from China and was expected to make little
immediate progress in the new year when Russia takes over the
presidency of the Security Council for January.

Casey said Washington "remains committed to pursuing this resolution as
soon as possible in the new year" -- setting up a possible
confrontation with Moscow shortly after the two sides ended a
hard-fought battle over another resolution imposing sanctions on Iran
for its illicit nuclear program.

"The situation in Burma remains bleak," Casey said, citing violence
against ethnic minorities, forced labor, narcotics smuggling and the
detention of more than 1,100 political prisoners by the Myanmar junta.

The US-sponsored resolution does not call for sanctions against
Myanmar, but said the situation in the country "poses serious risks to
peace and security in the region" -- language which could foreshadow
future punitive action.
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Thousands attend Myanmar rebel's funeral
Web posted at: 12/27/2006 2:12:2

mu aye pu, Myanmar (REUTERS) - Thousands of friends and some foes of
Myanmar's ethnic Karen rebel movement paid their respects yesterday
at the funeral of veteran rebel leader Bo Mya, held along the
Myanmar-Thai border.

The ceremony was held at the rebel's Mu Aye Pu camp, 600 km north of
Yangon, with 3,000 people, including a small delegation of Myanmar
troops and Thai soldiers, paying homage from dawn.

"He is our hero and warrior who had served the Karen people until his
last day," General Mutu Saepo of the Karen National Liberation Army
(KNLA) said in a speech, which was followed by a salute fired from M-16
rifles.

Bo Mya, whose Karen National Union (KNU) has waged guerrilla war
against the central government since 1949, died on Saturday in a Thai
hospital near the border after suffering from diabetes, heart disease
and having been wheelchair-bound for several years.

The KNU and its armed wing, the KNLA, have been fighting the central
government in Yangon since the year after the country, then called
Burma, won independence from Britain.

The coffin of Bo Mya, who died at the age of 79, was interred in a
concrete structure on a small sand hill on the Myanmar side of the Moei
river, which marks the border with Thailand.

Exiled Myanmar political dissidents and Karen civilians crossed the
river from Thailand to attend the funeral. Despite the death of Bo Mya,
the KNU's struggling for autonomy would continue, a key rebel
official said.

"KNU objectives remain the same. Nothing changes," said Colonel
Nerdah Mya, a son of Bo Mya and a battalion commander.

"If they want to continue to talk the ceasefire talks, we will. But
if they don't, we will continue to fight on." After seizing power
in 1988 from another set of generals, Myanmar's current military
rulers signed ceasefires or peace pacts with about two dozen ethnic
minority guerrilla groups in the country's jungle hinterlands. The
KNU reached an informal ceasefire with the junta in December 2003 after
talks brokered by then military intelligence chief Khin Nyunt, with
whom Bo Mya once said he had a good rapport.
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Friday December 29, 6:19 PM
Army-ruled Myanmar adjourns constitution talks

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's military rulers adjourned a
constitution-drafting convention on Friday which is expected to
reconvene for its final session next May, delegates said.

Convention convener Lieutenant-General Thein Sein told the 1,000-plus
delegates, most of them handpicked by the junta, they would resume
their work at "a time convenient for all," one delegate said.

"Although he did not say exactly when, it is understood that the
convention will resume in May next year for the last session," the
delegate told Reuters.

The junta, which has run the former Burma under various guises since
1962, says the convention is key to a seven-stage "roadmap to
democracy" laid out in 2003 by former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, who
was ousted in October 2004.

Western governments, analysts and diplomats say it is nothing but a
smokescreen to preserve the generals' grip on power, especially while
opposition figures such
as Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi remain under house arrest.

Critics point to a key objective of the convention which ensures a
"leadership role" for the army in politics.

The military started the national convention process in early 1993 but
never committed to a schedule to conclude the exercise boycotted by
major opposition parties, including Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy.

The United States said on Thursday it would renew efforts early next
year to pass a U.N. Security Council resolution to prod the junta to
allow greater freedom and improve human rights.

"We remain concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian and political
situation in Burma, which poses a threat to stability in the region,"
State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said in Washington.

The United States has repeatedly pledged to ask the Security Council to
take action on Myanmar, but has not yet introduced a promised draft
resolution.

Russia, a permanent member of the 15-nation council with veto power,
and others on the council have argued that Myanmar did not constitute
an international threat to peace and security, which is the council's
mandate under the U.N. Charter.
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U.S. to push for UN Myanmar resolution early in 2007
Thu Dec 28, 5:36 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States vowed on Thursday to renew
efforts early next year to pass a U.N. Security Council resolution to
prod Myanmar's military rulers to ease repression and improve
humanitarian conditions.

"We remain concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian and political
situation in Burma, which poses a threat to stability in the region,"
said State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey, using the country's
former name.

The United States would pursue a resolution "as soon as possible in the
new year" urging the government in Yangon to allow greater freedom and
improved humanitarian conditions, he said in a written statement.

The United States has repeatedly pledged to ask the Security Council to
take action on Myanmar but has not yet introduced a promised draft
resolution.

John Bolton, the then-U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said a
month ago he would offer a resolution "within the next few days or
weeks" telling Myanmar's junta to stop policies that threatened
international peace and security.

Russia, a permanent member of the 15-nation council with veto power,
and others on the council argued at the time that Myanmar did not
constitute an international threat to peace and security, which is the
council's mandate under the U.N. Charter.

The military has run Myanmar under various guises since 1962 and the
current group of generals took power in 1988.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi has been in and out of house
arrest after her National League for Democracy won a landslide election
victory in 1990.

Casey's statement described a bleak situation in Myanmar, a multiethnic
Southeast Asian country of 52 million people.

"Violence against ethnic minorities continues, more than a million
Burmese have been displaced internally or to neighboring countries,
complaints of forced labor continue to emerge, narcotics continue to
flow across borders, and the regime holds over 1,100 political
prisoners," it said.

Exiled Myanmar activists voiced gratitude for the U.S. effort but urged
others to support council action.

"We expect China and Russia and other members of the U.N. Security
Council will work together with the United States to make sure people
of Burma will be free from all man-made sufferings in the new year,"
said Aung Din, policy director of the U.S. Campaign for Burma, a
Washington-based group.
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Myanmar launches military crackdown on NSCN-K bases
Friday December 29, 05:49 PM

Guwahati, Dec 29 (IANS) Myanmar has launched a massive military
crackdown to evict an Indian tribal separatist group from its soil with
heavy fighting reported between government soldiers and the guerrillas,
a rebel leader Friday said.

A spokesman of the S.S. Khaplang faction of the National Socialist
Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) said pitched battles were fought between
rebel fighters and the military junta along the district of Hkamti in
Myanmar's northern Sagaing division.

'A brigade of the Myanmarese army equipped with heavy weapons has
launched the assault targeting our cadres since the past three days
although there have been no reports of any casualties on our side so
far,' senior NSCN-K leader Kughalo Mulatonu told IANS over phone from
an undisclosed location.

'Heavy fighting is continuing in the area with our cadres on full
alert.'

The NSCN-K, fighting for an independent homeland for the Naga tribe,
has at least 50 camps with about 5,000 guerrilla fighters entrenched in
fortified bunkers in the Sagaing division in northern Myanmar.

Mulatonu alleged that, 'The offensive by the military junta has the
backing of the Indian government and most of the weapons used in the
operation were supplied by New Delhi.'

'All our top leaders are safe.'

At least four other militant groups from India's northeast, where
numerous tribal and ethnic groups are fighting for greater autonomy or
independence, have training camps in northern Myanmar's thick jungles -
all of them sheltered there under the patronage of the NSCN-K.

'We are not going to be cowed down and would repulse the attack with
full force. We too have positioned our cadres with weapons like mortars
and rocket propelled grenades to counter them,' Mulatonu said.

The military crackdown had led to thousands of tribal Nagas residing in
the area fleeing their homes for fear of getting caught in the
crossfire.

'At least 5,000 local Nagas from about six villages have fled their
homes and are now scattered in the jungles away from the battlefront.
We are providing the villagers with food and other essentials.'

There has been no immediate confirmation of the military offensive from
Myanmar although Indian army officials' quoting intelligence inputs
said, 'something was on' inside the neighbouring country.

The NSCN-K has been observing a ceasefire with New Delhi since 2001
although peace talks are yet to begin.

Myanmar had earlier pledged that the junta would not let Indian rebels
operate from its soil. Myanmar last year launched a military operation
against the NSCN-K and overran several of their bases.

India and Myanmar share a 1,640-km long unfenced border, allowing
militants from the northeast to use the adjoining country as a
springboard to carry out hit-and-run guerrilla strikes on federal
soldiers.
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The International Herald Tribune - Published: December 28, 2006
US: Conditions in Myanmar threaten stability in region
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON: The U.S. State Department said a deteriorating humanitarian
and political situation in Myanmar poses a threat to stability in the
region.

"We believe the time has come for the Security Council to take action
to express its deep concern about Myanmar," deputy spokesman Tom Casey
said Thursday.

The council also should show strong support for the Secretary General's
offer to take a personal role in encouraging Myanmar, which is also
known as Burma, to provide greater freedom and improve humanitarian
conditions for the people of Myanmar, Casey said.

He said violence against ethnic minorities continues in Myanmar and
that more than a million people have been displaced internally or to
neighboring countries.

Casey also noted that "complaints of forced labor continue to emerge,
narcotics continue to flow across borders, and the regime holds over
1,100 political prisoners in its custody, including Aung San Suu Kyi
and other key civil society leaders."
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NewKerala
Vice Chief flags-in Indo-Myanmar joint car rally

New Delhi, Dec 29 : Vice Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General S
Pattabhiraman today said that military cooperation between India and
Myanmar is increasing.

Speaking on the occasion of the flagging-in ceremony of the first ever
Indo-Myanmar joint army car rally, Pattabhiraman said that, "As far as
military cooperation is concerned, lots of training and equipment
exchange is being looked at between India and Myanmar. We're looking
forward to this friendly relation that we between us, growing in the
near future. The Border Roads Organisation is also helping in road
building on either side."

Ukyi Then, the Myanmarese Ambassador to India, expressed satisfaction
over the successful completion of the rally, and said: "Not only army
to army, but also government to government and people to people
cooperation is extending between both the nations. Both the armies are
interacting for a joint training also. In future India and Myanmar are
ready to fight militancy together."

Rally leader Colonel K S Chauhan said the 8000-kilometre-long terrain
was tough and required improvement as there were broken tracks and
river beds to be crossed, and added that more such joint rallies could
help bring the nations together.

The rally which was flagged-off on December 5 from India Gate's Amar
Jawan Jyoti here, by Defence Minister A K Antony, was basically to
remember and honour the martyred Indian soldiers, 20,000 of whom died
in World War-II, fighting under the British flag in Burma in 1942.

The rally which was sponsored by General Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra,
and J K Tyres, had 12 vehicles and 39 personnel from the Indian and the
Myanmarese armies. It reached Yangon's Taukkyan War Cemetery on
December 16 (which is celebrated as Vijay Diwas in India), to pay
obeisance to the martyred soldiers. The cemetery has the names of
19,574 martyrs of undivided India.

A 45 member delegation led by Major General A K Lamba reached the war
cemetery on December 16, along with members of the Indian Navy and Air
Force to pay homage at commemorative ceremony at the cemetery for the
martyred soldiers.

The participating regiments from the Indian Army were those who fought
in Burma in 1942, like the Kumaon, Rajput, Grenadiers and the 61st
Cavalry.
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NewKerala
Rebels boosting poppy business in Myanmar

Guwahati, Dec 28: Poppy trade is flourishing in Myanmar, thanks to the
activities of a rebel group that has the support of the country's
military regime, a media report said.

It is boom time for cultivation and production of poppy as prospective
buyers from other states have been gathering in western Myanmar.

Though intravenous drugs are particularly popular in northeastern
India, opium abuse is equally prevalent in the region. The sale of raw
opium grown in Cikha sub-township near India's Manipur state is on the
rise, the Mizzima News reported.

The United Wa Army (UWA), under ceasefire terms, has entered the local
market under the protection of the military junta, the anti-military
news service said.

Shipment of the contraband is done mostly by the army vehicles, while
free transportation is arranged by the rebel group. Four to seven
cadres of the UWA stay regularly in Cikha and buy raw opium and cam
with the help of the Myanmar Army, the report said.

The group monitors harvesting and collection of opium and makes
purchases for the year. Raw opium is collected thrice annually.

Between September and November, the UWA bought more than 150 kg of raw
opium from Cikha, while around 12,795 kg was sold from Tedim township
in Chin state between May and August.

The UWA pays Kyat 100, 000 for 1.5 kg in the local market. There are
around 20 poppy fields - three acres on an average in the 30 villages
surrounding Cikha - and around 87 acres of land under poppy cultivation
in Tedim.
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INQ7.net - Last updated 06:47am (Mla time) 12/26/2006
Myanmar, Cambodia invite PNOC to join oil, gas search
By Abigail L. Ho, Inquirer

STATE-OWNED Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) has been invited by the
national oil companies of Myanmar and Cambodia to explore for oil and
gas in their countries, an official said.

"There are very high chances of getting oil and gas there," PNOC
officer-in-charge Pedro Aquino Jr. said of Cambodia and Myanmar.

At a recent meeting of heads of national oil companies in the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations, China, Japan and South Korea --
a grouping known as ASEAN+3 -- Cambodia National Petroleum said it was
open to collaboration with its counterparts in the ASEAN region on
developing oil and gas fields in Cambodia.

Similar interest in partnerships was expressed by China National
Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), Singapore Petroleum Corp., Petro Vietnam,
and the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT).

Aquino said CNOOC was exploring various business opportunities in the
ASEAN region, inviting national oil companies to farm-in arrangements
in service contract areas outside China.

Singapore Petroleum, which has interests in service areas in Vietnam,
Cambodia, Myanmar and Indonesia, committed participation in other
service areas for oil and gas development, Aquino said.

Petro Vietnam said it was willing to facilitate cooperation of national
oil firms through joint projects, whether in Vietnam or in other
places, he added.

PTT is also looking at areas outside Thailand for oil and gas
exploration and production, he said.

Aquino said PNOC was open to oil and gas exploration in other countries
and was itself looking at partnerships with its counterparts in the
region, specifically on liquefied natural gas.

PNOC is seeking partners from the ASEAN+3 group for construction of an
LNG terminal in the northwestern province of Bataan and two natural-gas
pipeline projects that have been sidelined for several years now, he
said.

Aquino invited national oil companies in the region to partner with
PNOC in the Bataan LNG terminal project and in the Batangas-Manila
(BatMan-1) and Bataan-Manila (BatMan-2) natural gas pipelines.
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People's Daily Online - December 29, 2006
One killed, 3 injured in mine explosion in Myanmar

One man has been killed and three others have been injured in a mine
explosion in Thandaung, Myanmar 's southeastern Kayin state, the
official newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported Friday.

The landmine went off when a motor vehicle with the four people on
board and loaded with wood passed on Wednesday, the report said.

The authorities blamed unidentified insurgents for the incident, saying
"insurgents are trying to jeopardize the stability of the state and
community peace in many ways".

According to earlier reports, a cyclist was blown into pieces in a mine
explosion in Penwegon-Kyauktaka township, central Bago division, in May
and two government employees were also killed and five others injured
in a similar mine attack by insurgents in Htantabin township in the
same division in July.

The Myanmar authorities issued warning in May against possible renewed
terrorist attacks in three other major cities -- Yangon, Mandalay and
Mawlamyine in the country.

And no such predicted attacks on the three cities have so far been
reported. (Source: Xinhua)
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People's Daily Online - December 29, 2006
Myanmar to build more small-scale hydropower plants in 2007

Myanmar will construct more small- scale hydropower plants across the
country in 2007 aiming at supplying electricity to rural and hilly
regions where national power grids are inaccessible.

These small-scale power plants will be built on water-resources-
abundant regions such as eastern Shan state and northernmost Kachin
state, sources with the Ministry of Electric Power-1 was quoted as
saying by the local daily Myanmar Times on Friday.

On completion, these small plants will contribute to the development of
the rural and hilly areas economically, socially and educationally,
officials of the ministry said.

According to the officials, there are 60,000 villages in Myanmar, only
7 percent of which get connected with the main national power grid.

Reports said that seven small-scale hydropower plants are being
implemented by a local enterprise with the assistance of a non-
governmental organization.

According to official statistics, before 1988, there were 24 power
plants in Myanmar with a total capacity of 568.45 megawatts (mw), in
which 14 are hydropower
ones with 228.45 mw, whereas after 1988, Myanmar has built 39 new power
plants with a total capacity of 1,071 mw, in which 30 are hydropower
ones with a capacity of 517.22 mw.

Myanmar is currently implementing 16 hydropwer projects in the country
for increased electricity supply to solve the serious issue of power
shortage.

Plans are underway to build 15 more hydropower plants to get 4, 346 mw
more, according to the authorities which outlined that these projected
plants.

According to government statistics, Myanmar had a total of over 1,775
mw of installed generating capacity of electric power as of March 2006,
up from 706.82 mw in 1988. The hydropower ones account for 35 percent,
while the gas-fired ones take 50 percent of the country's total
capacity.

Other latest official statistics show that Myanmar's electric power
generation was registered at 6.064 billion kilowatt-hours ( kwh) in
2005-06, up from 2.2 billion units in 1988-89. (Source: Xinhua)
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The Nation
Special to The Nation - Reflections on the 'hard man' of the KNU
Phil Thornton, Mae Sot
Published on Dec 29, 2006

General Bo Mya was the acknowledged hard man and defence minister of
the Karen National Union during their 55-year struggle against the
Burmese military dictatorship.

Bo Mya, 79, lived in guarded exile in Mae Sot until the ravages of old
age, diabetes and heart disease finally did what the Burmese military
could not - he died on Sunday at 2am. Journalist Phil Thornton reflects
on many interviews with the general during the writing of his book
"Restless Souls".

During Bo Mya's rule over the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA)
rumours and innuendo flew around border towns about the old general.
Academics, human rights activists, NGOs, journalists, Burmese
opposition groups, barflies, and Burma know-it-alls threw all kinds of
labels at him. He has been called a warlord, despot, nationalist,
conservative, a killer, tax collector, cruel dictator, and damned as
corrupt, uneducated, and backward. Bo Mya has been a thorn in the side
of the Burmese for decades.

I arranged to interview General Bo Mya to see which - if any - of these
labels were true or fair. Initial appearances were fearsome. His eyes
sat hard in his jungle-ravaged face. This was a man who feared no one,
at peace with his God.

Bo Mya was one of 12 children born to a poor hill-farming family in
Papun district in the northeast of Karen State. His father died when he
was young, and he credited his mother with bringing him up.

"She always taught me to love our Karen people. Even when I was a young
commander she'd say, 'Look after them ... make sacrifices for them ...
work for them.'"
Bo Mya joined the Karen resistance when he was 21.

"It was during the war [World War II]. What happened under the Japanese
occupation shaped my thoughts. The Burmese collaborated with the
Japanese, but instead of fighting the British they targeted the Karen.
The BIA told the Japanese the Karen were British puppets and we 'had to
be pulled up by the roots and killed'. In the cities they killed,
burned our homes, and raped our people."

When the Karen revolution started in 1949, Bo Mya became a Karen
soldier, and by the end of the year he was promoted to sergeant in the
newly formed Salween Battalion. He quickly rose through the ranks. By
1966, was general-in-command, and by 1976 president of the KNU.

I asked Bo Mya if the Karen people would not have been better off if
the KNU had stopped fighting years ago. His reply came with an intense
stare that bore through me. "If we had not fought, there would be no
Karen. We're only alive today because we defended ourselves," he said.

Bo Mya was not opposed to seeking a peaceful solution with the Burmese
regime. His latest attempt at a genuine cease-fire began optimistically
in 2004 but ended in slaughter during this past year when as many as
20,000 Karen villagers in eastern Burma were forced from their homes
and hundreds killed.

Various international NGOs privately accused Bo Mya of continuing the
Karen struggle to the detriment of his people. They said the KNU used
the conflict to generate income for their own ends. The general denied
this. "I'm not against a cease-fire. I want peace. But for us, a
cease-fire means no surrender but a mutual discussion to settle for
peace with dignity."

Bo Mya dismissed critics in NGOs and some members of the Burmese
opposition who labelled him as anti-democratic as politically naive and
self-serving, and predicted there would be an NGO stampede to Burma if
sanctions and the conflict ends.

I asked Bo Mya if he was a "warlord". The question started a laugh deep
inside him that continued until it finally erupted. "It seems like I
was.

In the past we [ethnic leaders] may have acted like warlords, but
underneath we all wanted to contribute for a genuine federation of
Burma."

Bo Mya accused certain ministers in the former Thaksin government,
Asean, and Western businesses of being more interested in making money
out of Burma than with protecting human rights. "These people have no
principles. They care only about their pockets. They have democracy in
their own countries, but they don't care that we don't. Money is the
only thing they love."

The general denied claims he had used his position to make him rich. "I
could have been a wealthy man living in Burma. They promised me big
houses, cars," he said. "I told them to go and never come to my place
again. The reason I'm struggling is not for myself but for my people.
I've sacrificed too many years that wealth won't make up for."

Finally, I asked the general if he was tired of fighting.

He unfolded a black and white newspaper clipping and showed me a
picture of a Karen villager cradling the head of his dead wife. "This
keeps me going. When your people are being killed, you're not afraid
anymore."

While the UN and international governments have issued little more than
empty threats to the Burmese regime, Bo Mya and the Karen have paid a
terrible price for their struggle to be free. "I have sacrificed my
life for my Karen people and my family has also paid the price. These
other countries helping Burma is a disaster for the Karen. Our
intention is always to protect innocent lives but those who join with
the murderous regime are the same," he said.

"These countries that give money to dictators are helping to continue
the abuse and the suffering."

In the eyes of his people, General Bo Mya is still the most renowned,
respected, and strongest symbol of their struggle for freedom. His
death leaves a void that will be hard to fill. Or maybe, as his
detractors said, it will allow a more democratic debate among KNU
members.

Phil Thornton is an Australian journalist who has been based in Mae Sot
for about six years. He is the author of several books, including
'Restless Souls', an account of life on the Thai-Burma border that has
been one of Asia Books' most successful publications.
******************************************************************
Farmer jailed for false claim against officials

Dec 29, 2006 (DVB)-A court in Kaw Hmu township has sentenced 51
year-old farmer Daw Khin Win to a year in prison for filing what
authorities have described as a false law suite against the her village
peace and development council.

Shortly after local elections in November 2004, Daw Khin Win lodged a
formal complaint alleging some new officials were involved in cattle
and diesel trafficking.

Two days before her sentence hearing, she told DVB she would rather go
to prison than take back her claims against township leaders.

"If they fine me on a charge where I believe myself innocent, and if
I agree to pay for it, that'll make me somehow agreeing that they
were right. I rather go into prison hoping that the truth will be
revealed one day," Daw Khin Win said.

She told DVB the two year court battle had taken a heavy toll on her
finances and that she was unable to continue to fight against her
sentence.

"I have to sell paddy with whatever price I can get as I have to pay
for the expenses of travelling back and forth to court . . . It's
about 100,000 to 200,000 kyat for each trip . . . the case has been
going for nearly two years now and I am totally worn out," she said.

U Aung Thein a senior lawyer with the National League for Democracy
said the party would help Khin Win appeal against her sentence.

"The Citizens' Right Protection code was passed by the parliament in
Burma in 1975. According to it, any citizen has the right to file a
report regardless of what the matter is. We think this sentence being
passed on old farmer is damaging towards her."
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