Four months before Olympic Torch bearer, Majora Carter, pulled a small Tibetan flag from her sleeve and waved it to the crowds as she carried the Olympic Torch in San Francisco, a Burma-rights activist, Andrew Koenig took out a small sign that read: China, Free Burma" and waved it in front of the Beijing Olympics Float during the Pasadena Rose Parade.

Both Americans used these special moments when the eyes of the world were watching to defend the rights of countless people who suffer human rights atrocities in Tibet and Burma.

A Chinese guard from the Beijing Olympic Committee, wrestled the flag from Majora Carter’s hand and, according to the New York Times: "(s)he was pushed toward a group of San Francisco police officers, who then pushed her into a crowd of bystanders." She was not permitted to continue in the Torch Relay, and went back home.

Andrew Koening was hustled off the street by the Pasadena police, arrested, and detained for almost 10 hours. His trial is set for tomorrow, and former Pasadena Mayor Bill Paparian is confident that Andrew will win, stating, "We have the television video now that clearly shows Andrew did not violate the law."

The City of Pasadena has refused to drop charges against Andrew Koenig, who has appeared in court several times to defend his actions to promote human rights for the people who suffer in Burma. This should come as no surprise to many, as the current Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard has demonstrated a total disregard for international human rights no matter who testifies before the Pasadena City Council.

In a discussion about his support for Burma, Andrew Koenig explained: "The elected president of Burma and Nobel Peace Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, - who has never been allowed to assume authority and remains under house arrest by the military government - was once asked what people outside of Burma could do to help their cause. Her response was 'Use your freedom to promote ours'. So that's what I did."

A Motion to Dismiss filed in Pasadena detailed Andrew’s Koenig’s 2007 trip to Thailand with his father where he met with "Burmese refugees displaced by the conflict fueled by the Peoples Republic of China's arms sales to Burma."

The motion further stated, "The Defendant first met with young women who fled their homeland due to a brutal military dictatorship. Then he met with a group of men who had been imprisoned and tortured. The Defendant and his father then visited the town of Mae Sot where Burmese refugees were receiving medical treatment. The Defendant then drove to the Thai-Burma border and took a boat across a small river to Burma. He visited a school and met with children who had been the victims of Burmese military aggression. Upon his return to Thailand he entered a Burmese refugee camp of 30,000 people and met with a group of orphans."

The City of Pasadena had a special visit in December by Kyaw Sithu, a Burmese refugee who was forced to flee his motherland after the 1988 democracy uprising. Kyaw Sithu led a cross-continent North America Campaign for Free Burma Road Trip. His trip to Pasadena included a stop at City Hall, and then to Mayor Bill Bogaard's house where he delivered a letter to the Mayor about the humanitarian crisis and brutality going on in military-ruled Burma.

Burmese and Burmese monks testified before the Pasadena City Council and the Pasadena Commission on Human Relations about China's complicity on human rights violations in Burma. On October 29, the Pasadena City Council voted against the Commission recommendations in making a strong statement about China's human rights violations. Mayor Bogaard's subsequent letter to Pasadena’s Sisters Cities which include Beijing's Xicheng district, even identified those testimonies as merely "allegations".

Majora Carter's action has been recognized internationally as how one person can bring attention to the oppressed around the world. She has received hundreds of emails congratulating her for waving a flag that is banned in China and represents freedom for Tibet.

Andrew Koenig’s principled stand may be decided upon this week in a Pasadena Courthouse.

His trial will begin on Wednesday, April 16 at 1:00 p.m., Department N on the first floor of the Pasadena Courthouse located at 300 East Walnut Street, Pasadena, CA 91101.

While it is hard to imagine that Pasadena residents are comfortable with the blatant disregard their Mayor has for international human rights, it is even harder to imagine that anyone in this country will be comfortable knowing that Pasadena’s city government could punish Andrew Koenig for promoting Burma's human rights.