YANGON, Myanmar — Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was put on trial behind closed doors Monday, police ringing the prison where the proceedings were held to deter supporters who claim she is being prosecuted to keep her out of politics.
Despite the closed nature of the trial, a U.S. consular official was allowed in because an American, John W. Yettaw, is also a defendant. He prompted the charges by swimming to her property and sneaking into her home.
Suu Kyi, her two companions under house arrest, and Yetta are being tried together for allegedly violating the conditions of her restriction order, which bans visitors without official permission.
The offense is punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment.
Last week’s arrest of the Nobel Peace laureate, who has been in detention without trial for more than 13 of the past 19 years, reignited criticism of Myanmar’s military junta and led to renewed calls by world leaders for her immediate release.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in Paris, one of several cities where activists rallied, called Suu Kyi’s trial a “scandalous provocation.”
Demonstrations were planned Monday in about 20 cities, including London, Rome, Boston and San Francisco.
Until now, 63-year-old Suu Kyi was detained under the State Protection Act, which allows the miltary regime to hold people without a trial if they are considered a threat, said Aung Din, executive director of the U.S. Campaign for Burma. The new charges of violating the terms of her house arrest could lead to imprisonment under much harsher conditions.
Suu Kyi had been scheduled to be freed May 27 after six consecutive years of house arrest, but it was expected the military government would try to find reason to hold her, as has happened in the past.
The new charges are widely seen as a pretext for the government to keep Suu Kyi out of elections it scheduled for next spring as the culmination of its “roadmap to democracy,” which has been criticized as an attempt to legitimize continued military control.
Many other prominent dissidents received long jail terms last year.
