One thing very clear that comes out of the CCTV’s reports on “Godfather” Naw Kham, who together with 5 colleagues are on trial today in Kunming, Yunnan province, is that he has yet to admit to the murder charges leveled at him and his gang.

Its 18 September report includes a Q & A between him and the police:

Police: “Why were you arrested?”

Naw Kham: “Because I planned and killed 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River on Oct 15th 2011.”

That was the translation. But after listening carefully to what he said in Shan, it comes out like this:

“It concerns the killing on 2 Chinese ships on 10 October. They mistook me (for the killing) and had arrested me.”

Which goes on to show that China’s judiciary will need better interpreters well versed both in Chinese and Shan, who are not hard to find especially on the Burmese side of the border. Until the court has procured the services of such people, this trial should not proceed. But if it does proceed and the verdict comes out the way all of us are anticipating, then all of us, especially the Chinese judiciary, are violating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 11:

SHAN especially requests President U Thein Sein and U Aung Min, his key peace negotiator, before they are leaving for New York on Monday, to see that well-qualified translators are there in Kunming to assist in the trial proceedings throughout their duration.

Please help our Chinese paukhpaw (sibling) to prevent itself from having kangaroo courts (I won’t say like who).