Myanmar court authorities Wednesday postponed the next hearing in the controversial trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who had been scheduled to appear in court Friday.The special court set up in Insein Prison delayed the hearing indefinitely as it awaits a decision by the Myanmar Supreme Court on whether it will allow more defence witnesses, Nyan Win, a member of Suu Kyi's defence team, said.
Insein Prison was scheduled originally scheduled to hear the testimony of Khin Moh Moh, a witness for the defence, on Friday. On Wednesday the Supreme Court heard defence arguments for allowing two more witnesses to appear in Suu Kyi's favour, including Tin Oo, the deputy leader of the opposition National League for Democracy, and senior party member Win Tin.
Judges said it would be impossible to accept Tin Oo as a witness because he is currently under house arrest. They added that Win Tin, a former journalist, gave several interviews to the Democratic Voice of Burma, the BBC and Radio Free Asia, in which he had demonstrated a difference of opinion with authorities, Nyan Win said.
"We said there is no law against witnesses having different opinions than authorities," Nyan Win said. The Supreme Court postponed deciding on whether to allow the two to be witnesses in the trial, which has been delayed several times since it began last month. The charges have drawn widespread international criticism.
There were unconfirmed rumours that United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is mulling a visit to Myanmar, maybe as soon as Friday. The UNchief has already voiced concerns about Suu Kyi's latest legal battle, which could see the Nobel Peace Prize laureate imprisoned for another five years. Suu Kyi's trial began May 11. While the prosecution was allowed to present 14 witnesses, the defence was initially allowed only one. Later a second witness was permitted and now the defence is fighting for two more.
Suu Kyi, who has spent 13 of the past 19 years in detention, stands accused of breaking the terms of her latest house detention by permitting US citizen John William Yettaw, 53, to swim to her home-cum-prison on Yangon's Inya Lake May 3 and spend two nights there before swimming away.
Critics acucsed the junta of using the case as a pretext to keep Suu Kyi in jail during a politically sensitive period leading up to a general election planned for next year. Suu Kyi is the leader of the National League for Democracy, which won the 1990 general election by a landslide but has been blocked from power by Myanmar's junta for the past 19 years.
The new trial of Suu Kyi, whose most recent six-year house detention sentence expired May 27, has sparked a chorus of protests from world leaders and even statements of concern from its regional allies in the Association of South-East Asian Nations.
Comments
Comments are closed.