Accusations undermined, attorney for Aung San Suu Kyi optimistic
The leader of the National League for Democracy, who was under house arrest till Tuesday, could get up to five years in prison because a 53-year-old American, John Yettaw, entered her home.
Nyan Win, one of the Nobel Prize laureate’s attorneys, said there were no bases to find her guilty and that he was “very confident of victory if the trial is carried out according to law.”
However, the junta’s plans, which include putting the opposition leader away so that she cannot run in next year’s elections, were made more difficult by John Yettaw who took the stand on Wednesday.
The US national said that he entered the house a first time in November but Ms San Suu Kyi called the authorities right away. In his second visit he encountered five security personnel as he tried to sneak into her house by swimming across Lake Inya. On this occasion security personnel threw some stones at him but did not do anything to stop him.
“The government knew very well who Yettaw was and let him go ahead with his plans to have an excuse to arrest her. His testimony before the court however complicated the situation, undermining the charges. Now it is going to be difficult for the junta to find a plausible way to condemn her,” the source said.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyers noted that the 1975 constitution was cited among the legal bases used to imprison her; however, it does not any legal value because strongman Than Shwe and the military junta abolished it in 1988 when they came to power.
Initially the court’s decision was expected today but has been delayed, probably till next Monday. Ms San Suu Kyi’s lawyers have called for private meeting.
In the meantime appeals for her release are coming from around the world and online. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) has launched a petition for the release of all Burmese political prisoners and has collected 650,000 signatures so far.
Recently, a website, 64ForSuu, has been set up, carrying text or video messages from diplomats, politicians (including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown), actors and writers (like Salman Rushdie) and ordinary people from around the world, calling for the release of Burmese opposition leader.
Tomorrow will be the sixth anniversary of the massacre perpetrated by the junta in Depayin, in which it tried to murder Aung San Suu Kyi.
A Burmese blogger urged his fellow countrymen and women to wear white in demonstrations across the country in places like Shwedagon Temple and Insein Prison in Yangon,.
But this might be difficult because “after the bloody crackdown on the saffron revolution, people are afraid to publicly demonstrate and do not want to be killed by the military,” AsiaNews’ source said. “Some isolated protests might take place but it is doubtful that any mass movement will be involved.”
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