Aung San Suu Kyi Takes the Stand

Aung San Suu Kyi Takes the Stand

Press Release: Terry Evans

27 May 2009

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is on trial for breaking the terms of her house arrest, testified for the first time on Tuesday. After six days of evidence from prosecution witnesses, Suu Kyi told the court that she committed no crime by giving shelter to the American, John Yettaw.

Journalists and diplomats were once again allowed to attend the trial, after being admitted to one afternoon session last week. 25 members of local and foreign media agencies, together with 19 diplomats were admitted to Tuesday’s proceedings in the Insein Prison courtroom. They reported that, when questioned by a judge as to whether she had breached the terms of her house arrest in allowing Yettaw to stay for two nights at her Rangoon home, Aung San Suu Kyi replied: “I didn’t violate any law.”

Suu Kyi presented the court with a letter she had written, explaining her position. In the letter, she claimed that she did not commit any crime because the same security personnel enforcing her house arrest had failed to apprehend Yettaw. Suu Kyi and her lawyers left after her testimony, and the court continued in closed session, resuming the case against Yettaw. Reporters and diplomats were barred. Yettaw is on trial for immigration violations, and for breaching municipal sanitation codes by swimming in the lake which borders Suu Kyi's home. He faces a possible sentence of six years' imprisonment.

The Burmese junta has scheduled an election for 2010, and has written a new constitution which carves out a major role for the military in any new government. The generals are attempting to use the charges against Suu Kyi as a pretext to keep her in jail during next year's general election. She had been due for release from house arrest today, but the fresh charges she faces carry a maximum sentence of five years in jail.

ENDS

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