SPDC TO SHAN SECESSIONIST: SEE YOU IN COURT, BUDDY!

C O N F I D E N T I A L RANGOON 000507 SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV; PACOM FOR FPA E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/28/2015 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PINS BM SUBJECT: SPDC TO SHAN SECESSIONIST: SEE YOU IN COURT, BUDDY! REF: A. RANGOON 469 ¶B. RANGOON 460 ¶C. RANGOON 332 Classified By: COM Carmen Martinez for Reasons 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (C) Summary: Embassy sources say that the GOB has lodged a case against the exile leaders of the self-proclaimed Federated Shan States. The GOB will likely confiscate any property the exiles hold in Burma, revoke their citizenship, and ultimately sentence them to death, although in this case the potential results would be largely symbolic. The court process will provide yet another opportunity for the SPDC to showcase itself as vital to the preservation of the Union. End Summary. ¶2. (C) According to Embassy sources, on April 27 a deputy divisional judge accepted a government petition to lodge a case against the exile president of the self-proclaimed Federated Shan States, Sao Hkam Hpa (aka Sao Hso),and other leaders of his "provisional government." Reports say the case file is titled "State vs. Sao Hkam Hpa and Accomplices." Preliminary hearings are reported to be underway. ¶3. (C) Legal sources say that Sao Hkam Hpa will likely be tried in absentia for treason and conspiracy against the state, charges that could carry the death penalty. In addition, the GOB is likely to confiscate any property held in Burma by Sao Hkam Hpa and the other Shan leaders in exile and strip them of Burmese citizenship. ¶4. (U) In a similar instance in 1989, the GOB lodged a case against Sawbwa Sao Hkun Hkio for allegedly supporting an anti-GOB organization. The Sawbwa did not appear in court and he was prosecuted in absentia. The GOB confiscated all of his property, revoked his citizenship, and banned him from ever visiting Burma. ¶5. (U) On May 1, the GOB published a 42-page pamphlet as an insert to the official regime newspaper making the case against "the renegade Sao Hkam Hpa and his cohorts." The pamphlet contained a transcript of the Home Affairs Minister's April 22 "press conference" (ref A) and some 30 statements from political parties and cease-fire groups denouncing the separatist effort. Ironically, one such statement was issued by the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD),which the SPDC accuses in its pamphlet of conspiring with Sao Hkam Hpa and others to secede from the Union. ¶6. (C) Comment: As Sao Hkam Hpa has been living in Canada for decades, it is unlikely that he still owns property in Burma or carries a Burmese passport. Trying him in absentia would thus have minimal impact on him personally. Such action, however, would signal the regime's intolerance of even quixotic secession movements, provide an additional excuse for the ongoing crackdown on Shan groups, and bolster the SPDC's fatuous claim that continued military rule is necessary to preserve the Union. End Comment. Martinez