Myanmar's Suu Kyi to plead innocence at trial

YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will plead 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 Myanmars 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 didnt commit any crime 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. She asked him to tell friends and colleagues that she is in good health, he said. Aung Thein, another lawyer who applied to represent her at the trial, said on Saturday that he had been disbarred by the authorities a day earlier. Myanmar has faced global pressure to free Aung San Suu Kyi and drop the charges, which were filed less than two weeks before the latest period of her detention was due to expire. She has spent 13 of the last 19 years in jail or under house arrest. However the regime on Saturday released her doctor, Tin Myo Win, nearly two weeks after he was held while trying to get access to her following the incident with US national John Yettaw. He was released from detention (Saturday night). According to him his health situation is good, one of Tin Myo Wins family members told AFP, asking not to be identified. It was not clear if Tin Myo Win would be allowed to visit Aung San Suu Kyi. She was placed on an intravenous drip at her house on May 8 because she could not eat, had low blood pressure and was dehydrated. His release came days after the US government demanded that Myanmar should grant him immediate access to see Aung San Suu Kyi. The Washington-based US Campaign for Burma meanwhile released what it said was the police report which led to the charges against her, in which Aung San Suu Kyi is accused of offering Yettaw food and drink when he stayed at her house between May 3 and 5. It says that the former army veteran made a prior visit in November 2008. Yettaw also faces trial on Monday, along with Aung San Suu Kyis two maids, who are accused of aiding the American. The Philippines on Sunday added to the chorus of condemnation, saying it was outraged by Aung San Suu Kyis treatment, joining Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore among Myanmars regional neighbours in speaking out. But there has been no word from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a member. The group has long been criticised by Western nations, which have imposed tough sanctions on the country. We really hope that they (ASEAN) come out and ratchet up the pressure. Since Burma was admitted 12 years ago, ASEAN has squandered any opportunity to speak more openly about Burma, said David Mathieson of Human Rights Watch. Myanmar, which was formerly known as Burma, has been ruled by the military since 1962 and the generals refused to let Aung San Suu Kyi take office after her party won a landslide victory in the countrys last elections in 1990. The junta has promised polls in 2010, but they will be held under a constitution brought in last year that enshrines a role for the military in any government.

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