RANGOON – A Burmese court has postponed the verdict in the high-profile trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to August 11th, according to her lawyer.
Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace prize- winner who has spent 14 of the past 20 years in detention, is charged under a law protecting the state from “subversive elements”. A guilty verdict had been widely expected yesterday.
Lawyer Nyan Win said the judge did not elaborate on why the verdict was postponed. A diplomatic source who attended the proceedings said it was “because of the need to interpret legal terms relating to the 1974 constitution”.
The charges stem from an incident in May when an American intruder swam across Inya lake to Ms Suu Kyi’s home, where he stayed uninvited for two days.
Prosecutors said the terms of her house arrest were breached.
Mr Nyan Win said Ms Suu Kyi was cheerful during yesterday’s brief court session and had told him the adjournment was “typical”.
Benjamin Zawacki, a Burma specialist for Amnesty International, said the repeated adjournments were orchestrated by the junta to make the court appear fair and impartial. “It’s very suspicious since most courts wouldn’t take this long,” he said. “We knew the verdict was decided long ago.”
A western diplomat in Rangoon said the junta could be stalling as a result of international condemnation of the trial. “The regime wants to take its time because of the mounting pressure it is under,” the diplomat said.
Ms Suu Kyi’s legal team has argued that she should be acquitted because the law under which she is charged was part of the 1974 constitution, which is no longer in use.
The prosecution says the 1974 constitution was still in force when Ms Suu Kyi’s latest period of house arrest began in 2003. – (Reuters)