Suu Kyi ‘Looking Good, Mentally Strong’: Lawyer

By SAW YAN NAING

After meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi at Insein Prison on Thursday, her lawyer Kyi Win told The Irrawaddy that she says she is confident of being found “not guilty” of the charges against her and that she looked good and was mentally very strong.

Pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi is being detained in a guest room in the compound of Insein Prison awaiting trial, which is scheduled to be held at Insein Special Court on Monday, according to her lawyer.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy, Kyi Win said, “Suu Kyi said that she believes that she will be found ‘not guilty’ over her connection with the American intruder.”

Asked about Suu Kyi’s health, the lawyer said that the pro-democracy leader looked good and is mentally very strong.

“I should have been the one encouraging her,” he said. “But instead, she was encouraging me to stay strong.”

Suu Kyi has now been charged for breaking the terms of her house arrest by communicating with “Inya Lake swimmer” John William Yettaw under Section 22 of the law Safeguarding the State from the Dangers of Subversive Elements, said her lawyer. Under this article, she could be imprisoned for a period of three to five years or fined up to 5,000 kyat (US $5), or both.

Suu Kyi’s two female maids are also being held in Insein Prison on the same charge, apparently resulting from their alleged communication with Yettaw.

Suu Kyi’s family doctor Tin Myo Win was arrested by Burmese authorities last weekend and has reportedly been charged under State Emergency Act 5/J, which carries a maximum sentence of five years.

Meanwhile, security forces, including plainclothes personnel, have been prominent around Insein Prison.

Local Rangoon journalists have been prevented from following and reporting on the Suu Kyi story. All Internet cafés in Insein Township were reportedly shut down and many telephone lines in the neighborhood were cut off, said sources.

Journalists who were in the vicinity of Insein Prison when Suu Kyi arrived were photographed by the Burmese Special Police, said journalists in Rangoon.

Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years. Her latest arrest was in May 2003 when her convoy of vehicles was attacked by junta-backed thugs. Suu Kyi’s most recent appeal for release, advocated by her lawyer Kyi Win in October, was rejected by the Burmese regime.