Suu Kyi faces jail over uninvited guest

http://www.asianewsnet.net/news.php?id=5723&sec=1

News Desk
The Straits Times
Publication Date: 15-05-2009


Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was charged on Thursday with violating the terms of her house arrest in a bizarre case involving an American man who swam across a lake to sneak into her home, her lawyers said.

Suu Kyi, whose latest detention period officially ends on May 27, could face a prison term of up to five years if convicted, said lawyer Hla Myo Myint.

The trial is scheduled to start on Monday at a special court at Yangon's notorious Insein Prison, where she was charged yesterday.


Activists denounced her trial as a ploy by the country's junta to keep the 63-year-old Nobel Peace laureate sidelined ahead of an election next year.

It would be the first nationwide election since the ruling military junta swept aside the results of the 1990 election that would have brought Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) to power.

An NLD spokesman said the opposition leader had been charged under Myanmar's Law Safeguarding the State from the Dangers of Subversive Elements, which carries a three year to five year jail term if a detainee 'violates the restrictions imposed on them'.

The American man, who has been identified as 53-year-old John William Yettaw of Missouri, was arrested last week for allegedly swimming across a lake to secretly enter Suu Kyi's home and staying there for two days.

He was charged at yesterday's hearing with illegally entering a restricted zone, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and breaking immigration laws, which is punishable by up to a year behind bars.

Kyi Win, another lawyer for Suu Kyi, said the opposition leader had not invited the man to visit her home, and that the incident was merely a breach of security in the lakeside area where the authorities normally keep a close watch on her.

"Everyone is very angry with this wretched American. He is the cause of all these problems," he told reporters.

The Myanmar authorities said they arrested Yettaw on May 6 after he swam back across the lake while returning from Suu Kyi's residence.

Yettaw was said to have swum up to the house with the help of floats made from large, empty plastic containers, then slipped past the security forces surrounding the compound.



It was apparently the second time Yettaw - described by the state media as a psychology student - had tried to meet Suu Kyi at her home.

Kyi Win said the American was told to leave after attempting to meet the opposition leader last year. This time, he refused.

"He said he was so tired and wanted to rest, but she pleaded with him. Then he slept overnight on the ground floor," the lawyer said.

Yettaw's motives are unclear. He told Suu Kyi that he was a Mormon, and he prayed extensively while he was in her house.

His stepson Paul Nedrow told the Associated Press news agency that Yettaw was "harmless and not politically motivated".

He said he was concerned over his stepfather's health as he was a diabetic, and the ailment 'could cause him to become disoriented'.

Armed police yesterday drove Suu Kyi and two women who live with her from their lakeside home to Insein Prison.

The two women, who have lived with her since she was last detained in 2003, were also charged with the same offence, lawyers said.

Suu Kyi's detention at Insein Prison will renew fears for her health after she was put on an intravenous drip last week for dehydration and low blood pressure.

The United States and human rights groups have demanded that she be allowed to see her main doctor, Dr Tin Myo Win.

However, he was also detained for questioning last week and charged yesterday with "encouraging a violation of the law".

U Nyan Win, another lawyer representing the NLD leader, said her trial could last anywhere from one week to two weeks, depending on how many witnesses are called.