Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will protest her innocence when she goes on trial starting Monday, her party said as the ruling military junta freed her personal doctor from detention.
The 63-year-old met her lawyer on Saturday at the notorious prison where she has been held since last week on charges of violating house arrest by sheltering an American man who swam across a lake to her residence. The Nobel Peace Prize winner faces up to five years in jail if convicted on the charges, which would keep her behind bars during controversial elections planned by Myanmar's generals for next year.
A spokesman for her National League for Democracy party said she had discussed the case when lawyer Kyi Win visited Insein prison near Yangon. The behind-closed-doors trial is expected to take place inside the jail.
"They discussed the charges and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said that she didn't commit any crimes and she is ready to talk about it in court," the spokesman, Nyan Win, told AFP Sunday. Daw is a term of respect in the Burmese language.