Amid Burma
Coup, 2 Arrested In Bid to Kill UN
Ambassador, 20 Year-Old Zaw Detained, Risk
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Complaint
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
UN GATE, August 6
– After the Burma coup regime
purported to fired its New
York-based UN ambassador U
Kyaw Moe Tun for his speech in
New York in the usually
scripted UN General Assembly,
now two Burmese have been
criminally charged with trying
to kill him. One has been
detained, as exclusively live
tweeted by Inner City Press,
here and below.
On the afternoon
of August 6 this: Criminal
complaint on Inner City Press'
DocumentCloud here:
the arrests of PHYO HEIN HTUT
and YE HEIN ZAW for conspiracy
to assault and make a violent
attack upon Myanmar’s
Permanent Representative to
the United Nations [Kyaw Moe
Tun]. HTUT and ZAW were
charged in two separate
complaints... Between
at least in or about July 2021
through at least on or about
August 5, 2021, HTUT and ZAW,
citizens of Myanmar currently
residing in New York,
conspired to injure or kill
Myanmar’s Permanent
Representative to the UN.
During the
conspiracy, HTUT communicated
with an arms dealer in
Thailand (the “Arms Dealer”)
who sells weapons to the
Burmese military, which
overthrew Myanmar’s civilian
government in or about
February 2021. In the
course of those conversations,
HTUT and the Arms Dealer
agreed on a plan in which HTUT
would hire attackers to hurt
the Ambassador in an attempt
to force the Ambassador to
step down from his post.
If the Ambassador did not step
down, then the Arms Dealer
proposed that the attackers
hired by HTUT would kill the
Ambassador.
Shortly after agreeing on the
plan, ZAW contacted HTUT by
cellphone and transferred
approximately $4,000 to HTUT
through a money transfer app
as an advance payment on the
plot to attack the
Ambassador. Later,
during a recorded phone
conversation with ZAW, HTUT
discussed how the planned
attackers would require an
additional $1,000 to conduct
the attack on the Ambassador
in Westchester County, and for
an additional payment the
attackers could, in substance,
“finish off” the
Ambassador. In response,
ZAW agreed, in substance, to
pay the additional $1,000 and
to try to obtain the
additional money.
Inner City
Press managed to find and live
tweet the presentment of Zaw,
here:
OK - now criminal
presentment for attempt to
kill Burma's UN Ambassador of
PHYO HEIN HTUT & YE HEIN
ZAW before
@SDNYLIVE Magistrate
Judge Andrew E. Krause. Inner
City Press has reported it
(even as banned from UN by
SG @AntonioGuterres )
and will live tweet below
Zaw has a
Burmese interpreter, a Mr.
Leong - certified in
California but not New York.
He's being sworn in by Judge
Krause. No one objects.
Judge: This
is an initial appearance, to
determine if bail may be set.
You have the right to remain
silent, any statement that you
do make may be used against
you. Do you understand? Zaw
(though interpreter) Yes
Zaw is
applying for a public
defender, paid by US
taxpayers. Judge: Do you have
funds behind that set forth in
this affidavit?
Judge: Mr. Zaw,
you are entitled to have the
consulate of Myanmar visit
you. [Note: which consulate?
There's a dispute who
represents the country here,
post-coup] Zaw: Please notify
them later, when it become
necessary, your Honor.
Zaw: I am 20
years old. Judge Krause: Have
you taken any drugs or alcohol
in the past 24 hours? Zaw:
No. Defense: We are not
making a bail application
today. [So Zaw will be
detained - where? MCC?
Valhalla?]
Assistant US
Attorney: Defendant was
arrested yesterday at 1 pm. He
was not able to be presented
until today. Judge Krause: We
had to locate an interpreter.
Then he wasn't available until
after 3 pm today...
Judge Krause: Mr.
Zaw, you are charged with
participating in a conspiracy.
Have you reviewed the
complaint with the
interpreter? Yes. Public
reading of the complaint
waived.
Zaw wants a
copy of the Complaint
translated into Burmese. He
doesn't have it yet. Judge
Krause: It may take a few
days. Preliminary hearing on
September 1 - but might not
happen, if there is an
indictment by the grand jury.
Judge Krause:
Would the government be
seeking detention? AUSA: Yes.
As an extreme risk of flight.
Judge Krause: Mr. Zaw will be
detained.
At the UN, SG
Guterres removed Burma's or
Myanmar's army from the UN
"list of shame" for recruiting
and using child soldiers,
despite more than 200 cases.
Emboldened by corrupt
Guterres, they are recruiting
and using even more. Now a
call for Guterres, trying to
steal a second term, to
reinstate them on the list -
but from a group which seems
to join Guterres in banning
Inner City Press from (its)
press conference.
Tellingly, after
UN PGA Volkan Bozkir's
spokesman Brenden Varma (who
blocks Inner City Press on
Twitter) bragged there would
be a GA vote on Myanmar on May
18, the vote is postponed and
Varma, it seems, deleted his
tweet without explanation,
while uploaded selfies from
Woodstock, Vermont. This is
what the UN has come to:
corrupt censorship. Burma
indeed.
Meanwhile
India,
president of
the Security
Council for
August, has no
meeting on
Burma and
Ambassador
Tirumurti
refused Inner
City Press
written
questions, here.
Watch this site.
***
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