Courts in military-ruled Myanmar sentenced 14 members of the opposition National League for Democracy party to lengthy prison terms, bringing to more than 50 the number of pro-democracy activists jailed his week.
The UN, Western nations and human rights groups expressed concern after sentences of 65 years each were given to 14 activists on Tuesday. They included members of the 88 Generation Students group who played prominent roles ahead of mass pro-democracy protests that were violently crushed last year.
“It’s no secret that Burma’s military rulers show no respect for law, but these last few weeks show a more concentrated crackdown on dissent clearly aimed at intimidating the population,” said Elaine Pearson of New York-based Human Rights Watch.
“These peaceful activists should not be on trial in the first place, let alone thrown in prison for years after unfair trials,” Pearson said.
At least 14 National League for Democracy members were given prison sentences ranging from two-and-a-half years to 16 years in different courts on Friday, party spokesman Nyan Win said.
More than 50 people, including 30 NLD party members, were given long sentences, he said. Many were arrested in connection with protests against economic hardship and monk-led pro-democracy demonstrations late last year.
Nine Buddhist monks were given six to eight-year jail terms this week, Nyan Win said.
The army used force last December to quash the demonstrations.
According to UN estimates, at least 31 people were killed and thousands of protesters detained. Many fled the country or went underground.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS