Burma's generals have another pretext for keeping Aung San Suu Kyi locked up
By Jonathan Head BBC News, Bangkok |
Last year, as the world tried to persuade Burma's military rulers to allow more foreign help for the victims of Cyclone Nargis, the country's renowned opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi passed a lonely anniversary in the isolation of her lakeside home.
It was five years since she had been detained and placed under house arrest, for the third time.
And under the law - called the "Law to Safeguard the State Against the Dangers of Those Desiring to Cause Subversive Acts" - the maximum period someone could be held without trial was five years.
Even under Burma's own draconian penal code, Ms Suu Kyi should have been released.
 John Yettaw swam across Inya Lake to reach Ms Suu Kyi's house |
It did not happen. The government simply extended her detention for another year, arguing that the first 360 days did not count.
So there was no expectation that, as she approached her sixth year of confinement this month, she would be released.
But now the Burmese authorities have been handed another pretext for keeping her locked up.
The strange, midnight visit by an American man, John Yettaw, who swam across Inya Lake on 3 May to reach the opposition leader's dilapidated house, has resulted in Ms Suu Kyi and her two assistants being arrested and taken to Insein prison, where they will go on trial next Monday.
 |  Everyone is very angry with this wretched American. He's a fool  Kyi Win Lawyer for Aung San Suu Kyi |
Like other dissidents who have been tried inside the prison walls, she will get little opportunity to defend herself, and faces a possible prison sentence of five years.
Mr Yettaw's motives for his visit are a mystery. According to Ms Suu Kyi's lawyer, Kyi Win, he tried to visit the same way last year, but was sent away. This time he apparently pleaded exhaustion after his swim, and was allowed to stay for two nights.
"Everyone is very angry with this wretched American," Kyi Win told reporters. "He's a fool."
Government critics have been quick to point out that Mr Yettaw's visit to one of the most closely guarded houses in Rangoon could surely have been prevented by the authorities.
His previous visit last year had already been reported by Ms Suu Kyi. She has now been charged with violating the terms of her house arrest.
Please read details story HERE
