Court orders close door examination of key witnesses in Burmese trial

The media is not allowed to cover the court proceedings and now no members of the public can watch the trial.

The court order today came following a petition by the Central Bureau of Investigation, the prosecutor of the Burmese rebels, on Monday to allow 'in camera' proceedings during examination of the witnesses.

Akshay Kumar Sharma, one of the defence counsels, told Mizzima, "the court ordered that during the examination of these three witnesses, no general public will have access to the court."

"Only the lawyers, the interpreter, the accused and the staff of the court will be there [in the court]," Sharma added.

In accordance with the court's order the prosecution is to produce three witnesses, who were supposed to have been involved in the arrest of the Burmese rebels in Landfall Island of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in February 1998.

However, citing national security, and security and safety of the three witnesses - Col. S.P.S. Mahi, Capt. Mohit, Seth and Cdr. T Sunil Kumar – the CBI had appealed to the court to allow 'in camera' proceedings.

The court also announced September 10, 11 and 12 as the next schedule of the examination of the three prosecution witnesses.

Meanwhile, the court today allowed the defence counsel as well as the prosecution to inspect ammunitions, explosives, and trawlers, which according to the prosecution is in the custody of the Indian Army in Port Blair, capital of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where the accused had been detained for more than eight years.

As a part of the trial, the defence counsel said the prosecution today produced several weapons in the court, which the prosecution claimed the Indian security forces had seized during the arrest of the Burmese rebels.

"I won't say that all the weapons were there but many of the weapons were," Sharma said.

According to the CBI and the Indian defence establishment, the Burmese rebels, identified as Arakan and Karen nationals from Burma, were caught during 'Operation Leech III', which involved the Indian Army, Navy, Air force, Coastguard and the local police, in Landfall Island of the Andaman and Nicobar in February 1998.

The CBI claims that a huge cache of arms and ammunitions and two speed boats were seized from the rebels. But the rebels, who claimed to be freedom fighters against military rule in Burma, said they were betrayed by Indian intelligence officers who allegedly promised them a safe base in Landfall Island.

The CBI in April told the court that the rest of the ammunition and explosives could not be brought to Kolkata for security reasons and remains in the custody of the Indian Army in Port Blair. The CBI also said that the two boats, which were used by the rebels to come to India, were washed away by the Tsunami in 2004.

Sharma said the defence counsel is yet to decide on the dates of visiting Port Blair for inspecting the ammunitions and explosives.