The trial on security-related charges of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is due to resume today amid no indications from the country's military regime that it would heed international calls to free her.
Her legal team was allowed to see her yesterday to prepare final arguments after being denied access on Wednesday.
Recent hearings in the trial have been held behind closed doors in Yangon's Insein Prison, but a European embassy source said diplomats had been told by the authorities to report to the prison today, and they assumed they would be allowed in.
Lawyers are not expecting a verdict today.
Nobel laureate Suu Kyi (64) faces five years in prison if found guilty of breaking a draconian security law that protects the state from "subversive elements".
At an Asia-Pacific security forum yesterday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered Myanmar the prospect of better relations with the United States but said that depended in part on the fate of Suu Kyi.
There has been no official response to Ms Clinton's comments this week but state media, seen as a mouthpiece for the junta, have shown no sign of compromise on the subject of Suu Kyi.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also urged junta leader Than Shwe to release Suu Kyi during a two-day visit to Myanmar this month, but he was not allowed to see her.
Rights groups say there are more than 2,000 political prisoners in Myanmar, but a commentary carried by three state-controlled newspapers yesterday described them as common criminals, guilty of undermining stability.
Reuters