Burmese rebels clarifies court over prosecution statement

by Salai Pi Pi
Tuesday, 15 September 2009 20:39

New Delhi (Mizzima) – The City Sessions Court in India’s Kolkata city on Tuesday sought clarifications from 34 Burmese rebels, who are currently facing trial on charges of gunrunning.

The trial resumed on Monday after the testimony of prosecution witnesses wrapped up earlier this month.

Akshay Kumar Sharma, one of the defense lawyers, representing the 34 accused, who are currently being held in Kolkata’s Presidency Jail, told Mizzima in an interview on Tuesday, the Judge formally questioned the 34 rebels on the matters related to the allegation made in the statement of the prosecution witnesses.

“Today, the judge read the statements from prosecution witnesses in their entirety and asked the accused one more question from that statement,” Sharma said.

Charged with illegal gun-running, India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), is acting as the prosecution against the 34 ethnic Arakan and Karen of Burma, who were arrested in February 1998.

The prosecution witnesses’ statement and the judge’s question of clarification from the accused came after nearly three years of trial proceedings, which began in October 2006.

The 34 Burmese ethnic rebels are members of the National Unity Party of Arakan (NUPA) and Karen National Union, armed groups fighting against the Burmese military regime.

They were arrested in 1998, during a joint operation carried out by Indian Army, Navy and Coast guards, in Landfall Island of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Indian Military establishment claimed that the rebels were gun-runners connected with insurgents in India’s Northeastern region.

But the rebels said, they were doubled crossed by Indian intelligence, who promised them the Landfall Island to be used as a base in exchange for providing intelligence on Chinese naval movements.

Following the arrest, the rebels were detained in Port Blair of the Andaman Islands, without any charges and no trial for eight years.

But in October 2006, following an appeal by a Human Rights lawyer Nandita Haksar, the Supreme Court ordered a transfer of the rebels to Kolkata and to conduct a day-to-day trial.

On Tuesday, the rebels told the judge they are not criminals but are freedom fighters, fighting for human rights and democracy in military-ruled Burma.

Sharma, in an earlier interview with Mizzima said, several key witnesses of CBI had failed to appear before the court and the prosecution has no strong evidences to prove their charges against the accused.

Sharma also said, the 34 rebels, if found guilty, could be further detained and face deportation. But even if they are proven innocent, they are still vulnerable to deportation because they are foreigners, unless granted asylum by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and accepted by a third country for protection.