-
Myanmarese protesters during a demonstration outside the Myanmar embassy in Kuala Lumpur against the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi - Source: Reuters -
Related
Army-ruled Myanmar opened the prison trial of opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi to diplomats and journalists in an apparent effort
to calm international outrage over the case.
Embassies were told they could send one diplomat to the court
inside Yangon's notorious Insein Central Prison, where Suu Kyi
faces up to five years in jail if found guilty of breaking the
terms of her house arrest.
A handful of journalists working for local and foreign media were
also told they could cover the proceedings at around midday, the
secretary of Myanmar's foreign correspondents club said.
"They seem to want to improve the image of the trial by allowing us
to be there," one Asian diplomat said after he was contacted by the
Foreign Ministry.
The case against Suu Kyi, accused of violating her house arrest
after an uninvited American intruder swam to her lakeside home two
weeks ago, has outraged the West and triggered threats of new
sanctions against the regime.
Foreign diplomats were barred from the opening of the trial on
Monday, angering French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner who
called the junta's actions a scandalous provocation.
The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), setting aside
its mantra of non-interference, said on Tuesday the trial had put
the "honor and credibility" of its troublesome member at
stake.
Critics denounce the trial as a bid to keep the charismatic Suu
Kyi, 63, locked up during multi-party elections next year, derided
by the West as sham to entrench the military's grip on the country
of 54 million people.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won the last election
by a landslide in 1990, only to be denied power by the military
which has ruled the former Burma for more than four decades.
She has been detained for more than 13 of the past 19 years, most
of them at her home in Yangon, guarded by police, her mail
intercepted and visitors restricted.
Her latest house arrest will end on May 27 after six years,
fuelling allegations that the regime is using the American intruder
as a pretext to keep Suu Kyi in detention.
Despite the tight security at her home, authorities say John
Yettaw, a 53-year-old American, sneaked inside on May 3 after using
homemade flippers to swim across Inya Lake.
Suu Kyi's lawyers argue no law was broken because she did not
invite Yettaw.
They say she told him to leave, but he refused and Suu Kyi did
not report him for fear he would get into trouble.
Yettaw, who has not revealed his motives to US embassy officials,
is described by state media as a 53-year-old psychology student
from Missouri.
He is charged with immigration violations, trespassing into a
restricted area, and violating a draconian security law protecting
the state from "those desiring to cause subversive acts".
Two female assistants who live with Suu Kyi, Khin Khin Win and Ma
Win Ma Ma, are also charged under the security law.
Nyan Win, an NLD official and member of Suu Kyi's defence team,
said the regime was rushing through the list of 22 prosecution
witnesses and may wrap up the trial next week.
World News Video
-
Dangerous rush to Everest summit (1:59)
-
Dozens killed in Syrian massacre (2:09)
-
'King of Romance' competes in Eurovision (1:46)
