Suu Kyi Unsatisfied with Trial Delay: Lawyer

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is unhappy with the repeated delays in the current trial against her, according one of her lawyers.

Nyan Win, a member of Suu Kyi’s legal team, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that she complained about the court’s decision to adjourn her trial until Monday because it gave the prosecution extra time to prepare its final arguments. Suu Kyi’s defense team made its closing arguments on Friday.

“I’m not satisfied with the delay,” Suu Kyi told her lawyer.

Kyi Win, Suu Kyi’s chief defense counsel, told the court on Friday that his client maintains that she is not guilty of the charges against her. He argued that under the 1974 law that she is accused of violating, it is not a crime to speak to a stranger or offer him food.

He also said that his client did not break the terms of her house arrest because she did not contact any outsiders by phone or letter.

Suu Kyi, 64, has been on trial at Rangoon’s notorious Insein Prison court since May 18. She is accused of illegally allowing an intruder, US national John William Yettaw, to stay at her home for two days.

The trial has provoked international outrage and is widely regarded as a ploy to allow the Burmese junta to keep Suu Kyi in detention ahead of elections slated for next year.

Critics say the trial has been highly biased. They note that the court approved 23 witnesses for the prosecution, of whom 14 appeared on the stand, while only two of the four witnesses requested by the defense were permitted to appear in court.
Burma does not have an independent judiciary.

Suu Kyi has spent nearly 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest. Her latest detention began in May 2003, when she and her supporters came under attack by junta-backed thugs while traveling in central Burma.

irrawaddy