From RFA’s Burmese service (in Burmese)
BANGKOK—Burmese authorities today brought 14 monks and nuns—many of them elderly—into court for a fourth time in Rangoon’s North Okkalapa area in connection with the “saffron revolution” of September 2007. All have been held since Oct. 6 at the notorious Insein Prison in Rangoon, and this was the fourth time they have been brought to court only to have their trials postponed; today, a key witness from the government’s Religious Affairs Ministry failed to show up, so the judge set Feb. 21 as the new trial date. The previous postponement occurred on Feb. 7.
Their lawyer, Nyi Nyi Hline, said all 14 were charged with “defamation of religion,” while the monks are additionally charged with “misuse of the monastery as guesthouse” Continue reading »