Japanese protesters in support of Aung San Suu Kyi (AFP/file).
YANGON, Burma – The Myanmar court scheduled to deliver a verdict in the high-profile trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Friday it was not yet ready to make a decision and adjourned until August 11, diplomats said. Suu Kyi rose to her feet after the judge's announcement, turned to foreign diplomats in the courtroom and said jokingly, "I apologize for giving you more work," a Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity, citing protocol.
The Lady, a 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest by harboring an American man who swam to her house uninvited. She faces up to five years in prison. Her trial has drawn international condemnation since it opened May 18. Critics have accused the military government of using the bizarre incident as a pretext to keeping Suu Kyi behind bars through the country's planned elections next year.
Friday's hearing lasted only a few minutes.
"The presiding judge walked into the courtroom and said the verdict will be postponed until Aug. 11 because the court is not ready to give the ruling," a foreign diplomat who attended the hearing told the Associated Press. The court was closed to journalists. Another diplomat said the judge added that the ruling required "further deliberation." The diplomats interviewed asked not to be named because of the sensitivity surrounding the trial. Security was heightened Friday ahead of the expected verdict, with teams of riot police stationed nearby. All roads leading to Yangon's Insein prison — where the trial is being held in a court inside the compound — were blocked by barbed-wire barricades. More>>
Friday's hearing lasted only a few minutes.
"The presiding judge walked into the courtroom and said the verdict will be postponed until Aug. 11 because the court is not ready to give the ruling," a foreign diplomat who attended the hearing told the Associated Press. The court was closed to journalists. Another diplomat said the judge added that the ruling required "further deliberation." The diplomats interviewed asked not to be named because of the sensitivity surrounding the trial. Security was heightened Friday ahead of the expected verdict, with teams of riot police stationed nearby. All roads leading to Yangon's Insein prison — where the trial is being held in a court inside the compound — were blocked by barbed-wire barricades. More>>
