For a moment I thought the world finally understood that despite their promises, the generals who rule my country were never going to reform and hand over power. That they would cling on to the bitter end, and have to be forced to give up their positions, dragged kicking and screaming from their luxury homes in their ridiculous new capital, Nay Pyi Taw.

There seemed such genuine anger about the new trial of Aung San Suu Kyi. World leaders, celebrities, and thousands more left messages on a special website, 64forsuu.org, which was set up to focus support for Aung San Suu kyi as she went on trial, and then on 19 June, spent her 14th birthday in detention.

The generals seemed genuinely surprised by the strength of outrage, and fell back on an old tactic that has served them well in the past. delay.

It is now almost three months since Aung San Suu Kyi was charged with breaking the terms of her house arrest, after an American man swam to her house and refused to leave. As time has passed so has international attention. The anger has abated, the agenda moved on. There will of course be an international response to the inevitable conviction, now due on 11 August (but expect further delays).

The EU promised financial sanctions, but there have been lots of arguments behind the scenes, with countries that support a policy of appeasement towards the generals, such as Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain, arguing against sanctions, and France opposing the sanctions as well as they would impact on the French oil giant, Total Oil. So despite the best efforts of the British government, sanctions when they come may once again be a paper tiger, gutted by a handful of EU countries.

There was talk of the United Nations Security Council finally passing a resolution on Burma, perhaps even the idea of an arms embargo could be floated. But hopes of that are fading as well.

So expect a day of outrage when the verdict is announced, but no major shift in the world’s approach to the generals.

That this is the case is all the more remarkable given what has happened in Burma since Aung San Suu Kyi was put on trial. In June a new military offensive by the Burmese Army in Karen State, where I am from, forced thousands of people to flee for their lives. Four thousand are now in temporary shelters in Thailand, while hundreds more are trapped, hiding in the jungle in Burma. In one horrific incident, two teenage girls were gang-raped by Burmese Army soldiers, and then killed. One was eight months pregnant. No action was taken.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon went to Burma to try to break the political deadlock, but the generals ignored all his requests, and would not even let him meet Aung San Suu Kyi. He returned humiliated, the UN defied. No action was taken.

More than 20 members of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy were arrested in midnight raids. No action was taken.

And now defectors are saying that Burma is working with the North Koreans to develop a nuclear weapon, although there is not yet concrete evidence to prove this.

It sometimes seems that there is no limit to the crimes the generals in Burma are prepared to commit, and no limit to how much the international community will tolerate these crimes. But I am not prepared to tolerate them, and I hope you are not either. There is not even a global arms embargo against Burma. Please help us persuade the UN that enough is enough, it’s time to stop selling guns to these killers. You can take action here.