Martin Petty
Southeast Asian leaders discuss Myanmar crisis with junta chief
Southeast Asian leaders began a crisis meeting on Myanmar on Saturday aiming to persuade Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who led the military takeover that sparked turmoil in his country, to forge a path to end the violence. The gathering of leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta is the first coordinated international effort to ease the crisis in Myanmar, an impoverished country that neighbours China, India and Thailand. Myanmar is part of the 10-nation ASEAN. With participants attending in person despite the pandemic, Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said on Friday that the summit reflected the “deep concern about the situation in Myanmar and ASEAN’s determination to help Myanmar get out of this delicate situation”. It’s unusual for the leader o...
Thai prosecutor indicts 18 over anti-government protests
A Thai prosecutor on Monday indicted 18 activists for their roles in anti-government rallies last year by a protest movement that has brought unprecedented challenges to the royal palace and military-dominated establishment. The youth-led movement sprang up last year calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former junta leader, and reform of the powerful Thai monarchy, breaking a longstanding taboo under the country’s lese majeste law. Those indicted included three prominent leaders charged with sedition and lese majeste during rallies in September, where tens of thousands escalated calls for monarchy reforms. The other 15 protesters face trial for sedition and breaching a ban on public assembly. “There is sufficient evidence that the accused have committed wrongd...
