Myanmar

Suu Kyi verdict postponed to 11 August

Article published on the 2009-07-31 Latest update 2009-07-31 10:06 TU

Supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi protest at the Myanmar embassy in Tokyo Friday
(Photo: Reuters)

The verdict on National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi will not be passed until 11 August, a court in the Myanmar capital, Yangon, on Friday announced.

The verdict had been expected Friday but Suu Kyi's lawyers told journalists that the judges said that they need time to review the case.

"I believe they really have serious legal problems," said lawyer Nyan Win. He speculated that international pressure might be responsible for the delay.

"I do not want to say anything regarding politics," he said. "But could it be because of pressure from the the UN or others? We do not know exactly but there might be something."

Verdicts had also been expected Friday on two of Suu Kyi's female aides, Khin Win and Win Ma Ma, and John Yettaw, the American who gave rise to the case by swimming to her house.

All of the defendants could face up to five years in jail.

"It is in some ways a smart move - push off the verdict until the middle of August when numerous government and United Nations officials around the world will be on vacation," her international legal counsel Jared Genser said in a statement.

"But it remains to be seen whether this ploy will work or if anticipation will be heightened in the run-up to the issuance of the verdict."

The US, which along with the European Union has criticised the charges against her, on Thursday called for Suu Kyi and an estimated 2,100 other political prisoners to be released "immediately and unconditionally".

Yettaw greeted Suu Kyi's lawyers in court by declaring "I love you", according to Nyan Win, who said that Suu Kyi refused to talk to him "because she doesn't want to be accused".