Myanmar says American main culprit in Suu Kyi case

YANGON, Myanmar — Myanmar’s national police chief said Thursday that the American man who swam uninvited to the home of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was the “main culprit” in the case filed against her.

The comment that could signal a less aggressive stance against the Nobel Peace laureate, who is being tried for violating the terms of her house arrest when John William Yettaw entered her closely guarded lakeside home last month and stayed two days. Yettaw and Suu Kyi’s two women companions are also charged.

If convicted, the 64-year-old faces up to five years in prison. She has been under house arrest for more than 13 of the last 19 years.

Her supporters say the government is almost certain to convict her and claim the regime is using the incident to keep the pro-democracy leader detained through next year’s elections.

Brig. Gen. Khin Yi’s comments at a news conference Thursday marked the first time the government has shifted the spotlight from Suu Kyi. Khin Yi faulted the democracy leader for her lack of cooperation with the security personnel at her home, but alleged that Yettaw was mostly to blame for the incident and that he may have been backed by some groups.

He declined to identify which groups, but noted Yettaw had met many exiled dissidents in neighboring Thailand.

“There could be some individuals and organizations that had supported or directed John William Yettaw, but it is undeniable that Mr. Yettaw is the main culprit who has broken the existing law,” he said.

The briefing, which was attended by lawyers and diplomats, came a day before the scheduled visit of U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, which may presage a trip by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon early next month.

Yettaw, 53, of Falcon, Missouri, 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 that he was working on a book and wished to interview Suu Kyi.

Khin Yi noted that Yettaw was apprehended in May while returning from Suu Kyi’s house along a longer route than the one he had taken during a previous secret visit in November.

“Only Mr. Yettaw and his accomplices will know why he didn’t use the shorter route. Can it be assumed that he deliberately did it to create problems?” said Khin Yi.

He described the American as “an intelligent man and not an unsound person as alleged by some opposition groups.”