Lawyers want DNA tested by UK police

KOH TAO KILLINGS

Suwannee Bantisak
The Sunday Nation October 12, 2014 1:00 am

NHRC sending a team to investigate crime scene as suspects retract confession

THE MYANMAR lawyers of the two men charged with the Koh Tao murders of two British tourists have asked Thailand's National Human Rights Commission and the Myanmar Embassy in the Kingdom to push for British police to conduct independent DNA tests in the case, as they believe their clients are innocent.

Myanmar nationals Zaw Rin and Win have retracted their earlier confessions to police. Their lawyers are confident the charges against the two men will be dropped.

The NHRC, meanwhile, is sending a team to examine the crime scene.

The latest twist in the murder case came after Myanmar President Thein Sein asked visiting Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha on Friday to ensure a "clean and fair" investigation.

On social media sites, many users refused to accept the result of the police investigation and raised the possibility that the two Myanmar nationals may be scapegoats in the murders of David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23. Their bodies were found on the island on September 15.

Police chief General Somyot Pumpanmuang has insisted many times that police did not frame the accused.

The NHRC is seeking to have forensic experts dispatched to Koh Tao to examine the case in detail.

Pol Maj-General Pavin Pongsirisin, the head of the investigation, said yesterday that he was confident everything was fair and police had submitted all the papers relating to the investigation to the Office of the Attorney-General.

In a related development, British Ambassador to Thailand Mark Kent urged Thai social media users not to spread disturbing photos relating to the case or passport photos and details of the victims, saying their families had already suffered a lot. He made the request via his Thai-language blog on Friday. He also urged the Thai mainstream mass media not to prejudge the accused and let the justice process run its course.

Kent said the Thai media, including the social media, should be "responsible as well as free".

Regional Public Prosecution 8 deputy director-general Thawatchai Siangjaew said he had not been informed yet about the police's additional interrogation of the two suspects in prison while a deputy chief of Provincial Police Region 8 denied the suspects had retracted their confession. Thawatchai said prosecutors would consider for indictment mainly the evidence in the case, including CCTTV footage from the crime scene and witness testimonies. The retraction of confession by suspects would not influence their decision to indict them, he added.

Prosecutors are still waiting for the police investigators' submission of the amended case report. He said once the report is submitted, the prosecutors should be able to make a decision within seven days.

Meanwhile, tourists continue to flock to Koh Tao under the watchful eye of tourist police and volunteers. The number of tourists is not high but it is still the low season, with strong ocean currents and monsoon rains.

Book links Iskander, Altaf to 1995 Purulia arms drop

India Correspondent,  bdnews24.com

Published: 2014-10-05 16:42:20.0 BdST Updated: 2014-10-05 17:38:30.0 BdST

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'The Night It Rained Guns', a book by India's top investigative journalist Chandan Nandy, says the AN-26 aircraft, that dropped a huge quantity of weapons over West Bengal's Purulia district on Dec 17, 1995, had repeatedly tried to land at Dhaka.

That was after it flew out of Karachi in Pakistan and Varanasi in India, using the cover of carrying a legitimate consignment for the Bangladesh Army.

The AN-26 with the huge consignment had started from Bourgas in Bulgaria and stopped at Ispahan in Iran before touching Karachi and Varanasi.

The book by Nandy says that the aircraft was used by Danish freebooter Jan Christien Neilsen alias Kim Davy to transport the weapons from Bulgaria with a fake End-user certificate (EUC) issued against the Bangladesh Army.

Nandy says Nielsen possibly worked for CIA and both Dhaka and Rangoon figured in his original flight plan.

He finally did not get permission to land in either airport.

Jan Christien Neilsen alias Kim Davy

The EUC no - 4021/1/AA/ARMY/ASL (P) 2 dated Nov 9, 1995 was signed by Major General Subed Ali Bhuiyan.

Nandy's book says British gunrunner Peter Bleach, who worked with Kim Davy on this arms drop, had procured this fake EUC through one Syed Taslim Hussain of M/s Riverland Agency, that was operating out of Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue in Dhaka.

"Syed Tasleem Hussain’s ‘success in business was attributed to patronage of the then Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, whose brother Syed Iskander (Sayeed Eskander) had a stake in Hussain’s company, Riverland Agencies," says the book published by Rupa.

Iskandar, a former army major and advisor to Khaleda, died of lung cancer in New York in Sept 23, 2012. He was elected MP from a Feni constituency in 2001.

Nandy, who is now a senior editor with The Times of India, says: "A subsequent secret letter (Nov 25, 1995) of the Bangladesh Directorate General Defence Purchase (DGDP), signed for the director general by a Major M Jasim Uddin, however, authorised M/s Border Technology and Innovations Ltd to ‘take all steps to conclude the subject contract, namely 214/719/19/Project/DGDP/Ord/P-4’29.

"The wooden boxes containing the arms and ammunition bore the seal (in stencilled capital letters) ‘COMMANDANT CAD RAJENDRAPUR
CANTT, BANGLADESH’.

On one of the wooden boxes was written in bold: ‘CASE NO. 34 OF 60, CONTRACT NO. 214/719/ PROJECT DGDP’.

BTI was run by Bleach's friends Peter Scott and Robin Campbell and had been drafted in by the British gunrunner to smoothly organise the arms procurement in Bulgaria.

Nandy says that Neilsen repeatedly tried to get permission to land at Dhaka but failed.

"Suspecting something fishy, the DGFI recommended that no landing permission be given to the AN-26," says the book.

"In fact, Nielsen’s Carol Air Services had approached the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh on Nov 19, 1995, for landing permission, claiming that the aircraft would carry general cargo from Shaheen Airport Services for Air Parabat Ltd, Bangladesh.

Jan Christien Neilsen alias Kim Davy

"Responding to a query from the Bangladesh civil aviation authorities, Carol Air Services claimed that it sought landing permission so it could showcase a static demonstration of the AN-26 at Dhaka’s Zia International Airport.”

It named Bangladesh’s just-retired Air Force chief, Air Vice-Marshal Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, as a local reference.

Chowdhury who was air chief from 1991 to 1995 was later home minister in the 2001-06 government headed by Khaleda Zia. He was a part of the BNP chief’s advisory committee.

"In the event, a letter from the then Bangladesh Civil Aviation assistant director, Mohammad Habibullah, to Dhaka-based Air Parabat Ltd, associated with Syed Tasleem Hussein, said ‘no action can be taken’ on the landing permission request."

The Purulia arms drop created a furore in India and was seen as a huge breach of the country's air security architecture.

In modern life,there are a lot of competitions.Without hard work,nothing can be had.
Gone are the days of our past when we depended on bounties of God.

However, the world is a place to be share equally by all.Co-operation is the basic of
civilized. Everyone has a duty to honour the feeling and sight of others.

The development of morden life world has very little contributed to this basic of civilized.
There is a big gap between the haves and haves not.There are the people who live in nation
have everything and even enough to share but there are also people who despite work hardly
cannot be comfortable.

The rich and poor is increasing day by day and so-called God’s world has become absolutely
enjoyable for some and  inferno or a hell for others.

Arakanese protesters dispersed with police firing

( Narinjara News: 28 March 2014)

The Sittwe police fired several bullets into the air to disperse a crowd of local residents on Wednesday evening who demonstrated against a foreign NGO named Malteser.
The demonstrations took place in front of Malteser office in the Arakan capital city following an American woman worker belonged to Malteser was seen wearing a Buddhist religious flag as the skirt (or sarong) in the office, said a police source.
“When the local residents heard about it, they rushed to the Malteser office located at Baukthisu ward of Sittwe and demonstrated their furies towards the American woman,” said U Maung Hla, a social activist based in Sittwe.

Teenager killed in Sittwe firing

( Narinjara News: 28 March 2014)

The firing incident of Sittwe on 27 March evening has clamed the first victim today. A teenage girl named Ma Nee Ma fell prey to the incident in the Arakanese capital city, while she was preparing to have dinner at home.

Half of Oz’s asylum patrol boats out of service

AFP, Australia | World | Wed, March 05 2014, 5:29 AM

Nearly half of the Australian navy patrol boats used to detect asylum-seekers have been confined to port with structural cracks, a report said Tuesday, but the government insisted its Operation Sovereign Borders continued as normal.
Under Canberra’s hardline immigration policy, would-be refugees arriving by boat can be turned back at sea to Indonesia where many board rickety vessels to make the perilous crossing to Australia.
Large cracks were discovered in six of the 14-strong Armidale fleet 10 days ago, forcing the ships back to port in Darwin, The Australian newspaper reported. But Australia’s Immigration and Border Protection Minister Scott Morrison said the military-run operation was unaffected by the problem

Gov’t commission questions Du Chee Yar Tan villagers

Investigation commission inquires Bengalis lived at Nurular village (Photo-EMG)

MAUNGDAW – A government commission set up to investigate reports of mob killings in Du Chee Yar Tan village has questioned villagers and officials in Maungdaw Township, in western Rakhine State.

The investigation commission visited Du Chee Yar Tan village and met with 15 ethnic Rakhine and 20 Muslim villagers on February 16 to investigate reports of mob killings in retaliation to the attack and disappearance of a police officer.

The commission also visited Kayay Myaing police outpost, the duty station of the police sergeant who is still missing after a police patrol was attacked on January 13. They also visited King Chaung cemetery to look for clues with the aid of criminological and legal experts.

In February 18, the commission went to Gaw Du Thara village where villagers are still hiding after villagers attacked  and killed police sergeant and torched their own village. They also went to Nurular village to ask whether there were any causalities.

The commission met with delegates from United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and Doctors without Borders (MSF) separately at Maungdaw district administration office on Tuesday.

MSF reported giving medical attention to 20 people who were wounded in Du Chee Yar Tan village, some by bullet wounds. The commission also went to Maungdaw police station to question 16 suspected Muslims villagers who were detained after the incident.

The president appointed Chairperson of the Myanmar Red Cross Association Dr. Thar Hla Shwe as the Chairperson of the commission, Dr. Kyaw Yin Hlaing as a secretary for the commission and eight members team on February 8.

The commission will seek clarification on the alleged culprits of the fire that broke out in Du Chee Yar Tan (west) on January 20, as well as investigating false and fabricated news.

The commission will report its findings to President Thein Sein directly on February 28.

Myanmar's constitutional crisis reaching boiling point

Htun Aung Gyaw
Special to the Nation February 21, 2014 1:00 am

Under the current military-drafted charter, Aung San Suu Kyi is banned from becoming president.

An uprising looms unless the military releases its grip on power and allows Suu Kyi to run for president next year

Big questions loom about the future of Myanmar (Burma). Will the country allow changes to its constitution that lead to democratic reforms - or will it return square one? This is an issue of huge interest both in Myanmar and abroad.

Sometimes history repeats itself. The army could simply take political power again, before the election in 2015. In 1960, after two years of leading a caretaker government, army chief General Ne Win allowed an election and gave power back to an elected administration. But when ethnic minorities demanded genuine federal states and separation of political power, the military claimed the nation was at risk of disintegration and staged a coup in March 1962.

Fresh violence pushes Thailand deeper into crisis

Bangkok, Dec 2 (AP/UNB) – The United Nations closed its main office in Bangkok, dozens of schools were shut and civil servants skipped work as stone-throwing protesters battled through clouds of tear gas in renewed assaults on key government buildings in the Thai capital on Monday.

The protests aimed at toppling the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra have renewed fears of prolonged instability in one of Southeast Asia’s biggest economies and come just ahead of the peak holiday tourist season.

After a weekend of chaos in pockets of Bangkok, protesters regrouped outside the heavily-barricaded prime minister’s office Monday and repeatedly clashed with the police who fired tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets. Emboldened by their leader’s vow to topple Yingluck by Wednesday, they threw rocks at police and tore away sections of barbed wire and concrete barriers.

In a nationally televised appeal, Yingluck’s deputy, Surapong Tovichakchaikul, called on protesters to stop hurting Thailand’s image and the economy. Yingluck has not appeared in public since Saturday, but on Monday posted a picture of herself on Facebook in a meeting with senior government and police officers.

Using a conciliatory tone, Surapong said “the government will exercise utmost patience and adhere to nonviolent principles.”

“The government would like to insist that it will lead Thailand back to peace soon,” he said.

The protesters, who are mostly middle-class Bangkok supporters of the opposition Democrat Party, want Yingluck to step down, claiming she is a proxy for her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. He was deposed in a 2006 military coup but remains central to Thailand’s political crisis, and is a focal point for the protester’s hatred.

The protesters, who call themselves the People’s Democratic Reform Committee, say their goal is to uproot the political machine of Thaksin, who is accused of widespread corruption and winning elections by buying voters from poor rural folk.

In an e-mailed statement to its staff, the United Nations’ security department said “there could be violence (Monday) on a large scale .. staff should avoid government offices” and other protest locations.

Many of the offices and schools closed Monday were located near the Government House, in the historic quarter of the capital, where police over the weekend fought off mobs of rock-throwing protesters armed with petrol bombs. At least three people were killed and 103 injured in skirmishes over the weekend.

Many of the protesters wore raincoats and plastic bags over their heads, to protect against the sting of tear gas.

The violence has mainly been around key institutions — the Parliament, at the Government House and Metropolitan Police Headquarters in the historic quarter of the capital. The area has some of Bangkok’s main tourist attractions such as the Grand Palace, Wat Pho temple, the Bangkok zoo, and the backpacker area of Khao San Road. Most of Bangkok, a city of 10 million, has been normal.

Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, a former deputy prime minister, says his aim is to install an unelected “people’s council” to select a new prime minister.

Suthep’s demand has been criticized by many as undemocratic, and is unlikely to be accepted by a government that was elected with an overwhelming majority.

However, his sustained campaign has led to suggestions that he may have the backing of the military, which has long had a powerful influence over Thai politics. The army has often stepped in during times of crisis, carrying out 18 successful or attempted coups since the 1930s.

Suthep met with Yingluck late Sunday in the presence of top military officials even though he has an arrest warrant against him. He later told cheering supporters that he told Yingluck that the only way to end the protests was for her to step down. The military has said it is neutral in the conflict but army commander Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha has urged the police not to use force.

“There was no negotiation during this meeting,” Suthep said. If Yingluck “listens to the people’s voices and returns the power to the people obediently, we will treat Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra with politeness because we all are good citizens.”

The French Embassy issued one of the strongest warnings of dozens of foreign governments, urging citizens to “stay inside” to avoid the conflict on Bangkok’s streets. The French School is located in a northeastern Bangkok neighborhood where gunshots rang out over the weekend during clashes between Yingluck’s supporters and opponents.

NLD Party Proposing Talks With The Goverment,Parliament And Military For Amending Constiution

Yangon, Nov 23 (IANS) A Myanmar opposition party, the National League for Democracy, Saturday proposed talks with the government, parliament and military for amending the 2008 constitution, the party said.

The decision came at the party's central executive committee meeting here to send a request for talks to President U Thein Sein, the party said.

The party has been collecting public opinion on the constitutional amendment region-wise and state-wise since mid-October.

According to earlier announcement by the party, the majority of the public prefer the amendment of the constitution, while few people prefer re-drawing.

The 109-member constitution review joint committee set up by Myanmar's Parliament in July, has extended the deadline for submission of such advice and assessment till Dec 31.

The National League for Democracy also formed a constitution amendment committee.

The 194-page, 15-chapter Republic of the Union of Myanmar Constitution 2008, drafted in accordance with the detailed basic principles laid down by the national convention, was promulgated in May 2008 after a nationwide referendum.

Under that constitution, a multi-party democratic general election was held in November 2010, in which the Union Solidarity and Development Party won the majority of the seats with its then chairman U Thein Sein being elected as president of the new government who took office in March 2011.

In 2012, the government amended the party registration law, re-legalising the opposition, the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

The National League for Democracy took part in the by-elections in April, winning 43 out of 45 open parliamentary seats.