Last witness supports Suu Kyi in trial

YANsuu-kyiGON, Myanmar — The last defense witness in the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi argued Friday that the democracy leader violated no existing laws because she is being charged under a constitution that was abolished 21 years ago.

The nearly seven-hour session ended with the court setting July 24 for final arguments in the case, said Suu Kyi’s lawyer Nyan Win. A verdict is not expected on that date.

Riot police deployed outside Myanmar’s main prison at Friday’s session — a week after the ruling generals blocked efforts by the U.N. chief to save her from a possible five-year prison term.

The 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest by harboring an uninvited American man who swam secretly to her lakeside home and stayed for two days.

But defense witness Khin Moe Moe, a lawyer and a member of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, argued during 3½ hours of cross-examination that the 1974 constitution under which Suu Kyi was being tried had been axed in 1988.

“I have known her (Suu Kyi) for 20 years and based on that and legal points, I made my testimony. She violated no laws,” Khin Moe Moe told reporters. She said Suu Kyi looked “healthy and alert.”

“The prosecution was on the defensive. We are satisfied with the testimony,” said Nyan Win.

The trial has drawn condemnation from the international community and Suu Kyi’s local supporters, who worry the ruling junta has found an excuse to keep her detained through elections planned for next year. She is widely expected to be found guilty.

Suu Kyi has been in detention for nearly 14 of the last 20 years, mostly at her Yangon residence.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, on an official visit to Myanmar last Friday and Saturday, failed to gain Suu Kyi’s release or even visit her in prison.

Ban said Myanmar’s junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe told him repeatedly that “he really wanted to agree to my request” to see her but because Suu Kyi was on trial he did not want to be seen as interfering with the judicial process — or being pressured by the outside world.

“I am deeply disappointed that they have missed a very important opportunity,” Ban said last weekend.

Also being tried on the same charges are two women members of Suu Kyi’s party, who were her sole companions under house arrest. The American, John Yettaw, 53, of Falcon, Missouri, is charged with trespassing.

The mostly closed-door trial started May 18. The court at first allowed only one of four defense witnesses to take the stand, while approving 23 prosecution witnesses, of whom 14 took the stand, according to Suu Kyi’s lawyers.

On appeal, the Yangon Divisional Court ruled that Khin Moe Moe also could be heard but maintained the disqualification of prominent journalist and former political prisoner Win Tin and party vice chairman Tin Oo, who is under house arrest.

Security around Insein prison was tight as usual with roads leading to the prison blocked with barbed wire barricades manned by police. Truck loads of riot police were also deployed around the prison facility.

About 100 Suu Kyi supporters gathered, as they have during earlier court sessions, to give her support, sitting and standing as close as they could to the prison gates.

British Charge D’Affaires Jeremy Hodges asked to be allowed to attend Suu Kyi’s trial but was told Friday that he could not because his request had not been passed to the court’s security staff, Britain’s Foreign Office said in a statement. Hodges is based in Yangon.

“I was not allowed past the security cordon around the main gates of Insein prison,” said Hodges, who is based in Yangon.

The defense has not contested the basic facts of the case but argues the relevant law has been misapplied by the authorities. They also assert that the security guards who ensure Suu Kyi remains inside her compound should also be held responsible for any intrusion on her property.

Yettaw has pleaded not guilty and explained in court that he had a dream that Suu Kyi would be assassinated and he had gone to warn her. Family and friends have said he was working on a book and wished to interview her.

Associated Press writer David Stringer contributed to this report from London.