THE TRIAL of Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been adjourned until today for her defence lawyers to give their closing response before a verdict is delivered, possibly in two to three weeks.
The Nobel peace prize laureate is charged with breaking the terms of her house arrest by allowing an American to spend two nights at her home in May. She faces up to five years in prison if found guilty.
Her lawyers were reportedly making last-ditch attempts to call Nyunt Maung Shein, Burma’s former ambassador to the UN, to testify in court. They claim to have proof that he told the UN’s human rights council that Aung San Suu Kyi was being “detained for her own security”.
It appears that the defence will attempt to argue that if a government official confirmed she was detained, not under arrest, then she cannot be tried for allegedly breaking her detention order.
John Yettaw, a Vietnam veteran described by his wife as eccentric, said he swam across a lake to her home to warn her that she was about to be assassinated by “terrorists.” Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained for 14 of the last 20 years, pleaded with Mr Yettaw to leave and relented only after he claimed to be too ill to swim back.
Nyan Win said his client was “preparing for the worst” at the end of a trial that the junta’s critics have denounced as an excuse to keep her incarcerated during national elections due next year.
The defence does not deny that Mr Yettaw visited her compound, but argues she cannot be charged under laws abolished in 1988. It blames her bodyguards for failing to apprehend Mr Yettaw, who remained undetected for several hours. – ( Guardianservice)