Myanmar’s Suu Kyi blames security breach

updated 3:29 p.m. ET May 27, 2009

YANGON, Myanmar - Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi blamed a "security breach" for a bizarre visit by an American that put her in a prison courtroom this week and implied that Myanmar's military government was at fault, according to a statement released by her political party Wednesday.

"The fact that I am the only party being prosecuted shows the partiality of the prosecution," the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said in the statement, which was submitted to the court Tuesday.

Suu Kyi's defense suffered a setback Wednesday when the court rejected three out of four witnesses her defense team sought to have testify, making it likely the proceedings will finish this week.

If found guilty, Suu Kyi faces up to five years in jail. Myanmar's courts operate under the influence of the military and almost always deal harshly with political dissidents.

Nyan Win, one of Suu Kyi's lawyers, said only a legal expert, Kyi Win, would be allowed to testify. Suu Kyi's defense is seeking to prove that her harboring of the uninvited American did not violate the conditions of her house arrest.

The court rejected the other witnesses — all members of Suu Kyi's party, including one under house arrest — saying their testimony was aimed at "vexation or delay or for defeating the ends of justice."

'This is unfair'
"This is unfair," Nyan Win told reporters. He said the sole defense witness would testify Thursday, and the trial might reach a verdict Friday. Two women who live with Suu Kyi and the intruder also have pleaded not guilty to the same charge.

Critics say the junta is trying to keep Suu Kyi in detention during elections it has planned for next year.

Suu Kyi acknowledges she allowed American John W. Yettaw, 53, to stay for two days early this month after he swam across a lake to enter her house uninvited and then said he was too tired and ill to leave immediately.

"This incident occurred because of a security breach (by authorities). However, until now no action has been taken on security," she said in her statement, in an apparent reference to the lack of charges against the security personnel guarding her house arrest.

Yettaw, of Falcon, Missouri, was arrested after he swam away.

During three hours of prosecution questioning on Wednesday, Yettaw spoke repeatedly of his intention to warn Suu Kyi of his premonition that she would be killed, Nyan Win said.

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