Burma’s Suu Kyi prepares to give evidence at trial
Nyan Win, one of Suu Kyi’s lawyers, said yesterday her defence team was unhappy that it was not given sufficient time to consult with their client about her planned testimony.
Suu Kyi is widely expected to be found guilty for allegedly harbouring an American who swam across a lake to her residence. She faces up to five years in prison.
Suu Kyi pleaded not guilty on Friday, but Burma’s courts operate under the influence of the ruling military, and almost always deal harshly with political dissidents.
Two women assistants who live with her, and the foreign intruder, also pleaded not guilty to the same charge.
Asked yesterday if he thought the court is rushing through the trial, Nyan Win said: “It is very certain.”
Already bombarded by criticism from Western nations, the junta turned on neighbouring Thailand, a partner in the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), accusing it of violating the bloc’s principle by interfering in Burma’s internal affairs.
Thailand, the grouping’s current chairman, expressed “grave concern” over the trial last week, saying “the honour and the credibility of the [Burmese government] are at stake.”
Suu Kyi had been scheduled to be freed from six years of detention without trial tomorrow.
The charges against her are widely seen as a pretext for the government to keep her detained during polls it has scheduled for next year as the culmination of a “roadmap to democracy”, which has been criticised as a fig leaf for continued military rule.
Nyan Win said the court waived nine remaining prosecution witnesses – 23 had been scheduled – and the judge announced that Suu Kyi would have to testify today, suggesting the military government wants to wrap up the proceedings quickly.
Suu Kyi’s side does not contest the facts of the case – that a 53-year-old American, John Yettaw, swam across a lake to her property under the cover of darkness earlier this month to enter uninvited into her home. Her lawyers said she allowed him to stay for two days after he said he was too tired and ill to immediately swim back across the lake.
Suu Kyi told her lawyers she did not report him because she did not want him or security personnel in charge of her house to get into trouble because of her.
The 63-year-old Nobel Peace laureate told them the incident occurred because of a security breach so the responsibility for allowing Yettaw in lies with the security forces.
When he pleaded not guilty, Yettaw, from Falcon, Missouri, explained it was because he had a dream that Suu Kyi would be assassinated and he had come to warn her that her life was in danger.
The trial comes weeks after the European Union announced it was stepping up humanitarian aid to the impoverished country and the US said it was reviewing its policy.
But now the EU is talking of introducing tougher sanctions in response to the trial.
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