Trial of Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi resumes

YANGON, Myanmar — The trial of Myanmar’s jailed pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi resumed Friday with her lawyers set to present a final argument in their efforts to save the Nobel laureate from a possible five-year prison term.

Suu Kyi, 64, is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest by harboring an uninvited American man who swam to her lakeside home and stayed for two days.

“We are very optimistic because our arguments are based on solid legal points,” Suu Kyi’s main lawyer Kyi Win said. “We have the law on our side, but we don’t know if the judges are on our side.”

The prosecutors will also present their closing argument during the widely criticized proceedings. The verdict is expected sometime next month.

The defense has not contested the facts of the case but argues that the relevant law has been misapplied by the authorities and that Suu Kyi was charged under a constitution abolished two decades ago. They also assert that the security guards who ensure Suu Kyi remained inside her compound should be held responsible for any intrusion on her property.

Security was tight around Insein prison — where Suu Kyi is being held and the trial is ongoing — with roads blocked with barbed wire barricades manned by police. Seven truckloads of riot police were deployed around the compound, and pro-government supporters were seen gathering near the area.

Diplomats from Britain, France, Germany, Norway and Italy who had earlier requested access would be allowed into the courtroom for Friday’s session, a diplomat said on condition of anonymity, citing protocol. It would be the third time during the mostly closed-door trial that such access has been granted.

The resumption of the trial came after U.S., European and Asian officials — including the top diplomat from Myanmar — wound up a conference Thursday in neighboring Thailand that put Myanmar’s human rights record in the spotlight.

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 behind bars through elections planned for next year.

At an Asia-Pacific security forum on Thursday, U.S. 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.

Myanmar state media rejected the criticism Thursday, accusing those calling for Suu Kyi’s release “interference.”

“Demanding release of Daw Suu Kyi means showing reckless disregard for the law,” said the editorial in the English-language New Light of Myanmar, the military junta’s mouthpiece. “Daw” is a term of respect in Myanmar.

Also on trial, and facing the same charges as Suu Kyi, are two female members of her political party who were her sole companions under house arrest. The American visitor, John Yettaw, 53, of Falcon, Missouri, is charged with trespassing.

The trial started May 18. The court had approved 23 prosecution witnesses, of which 14 took the stand. Only two out of four defense witnesses were allowed.

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.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been under military rule since 1962.

Suu Kyi’s opposition party won national elections in 1990, but Myanmar’s generals refused to relinquish power. Suu Kyi, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, has been under house arrest for 14 of the past 20 years.