Burmese court rejects three people due to appear in defence of opposition leader accused of breaking terms of house arrest

This article is more than 11 years old

This article is more than 11 years old

Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese opposition leader, will only be allowed to call one witness to testify in her defence against charges of breaking the terms of her house arrest, the court trying her case ruled today.

Three other defence witnesses were barred by the court, her lawyers said. Suu Kyi faces up to five years in prison for allowing an American man to spend two days at her lakeside compound earlier this month. She has already spent 13 of the last 19 years in detention.

Nyan Win, one of her lawyers, said only a legal expert, Kyi Win, would be allowed to testify. Suu Kyi's defence is seeking to prove that John Yettaw's stay did not constitute a violation of the restriction order confining her to her home.

The rejected witnesses were Win Tin, Burma's longest serving political prisoner until his release last year, Tin Oo, the vice-chairman of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), who has been under house arrest since 2003, and Khin Moe Moe, a lawyer.

Earlier, Suu Kyi blamed a "security breach" for allowing Yettaw to swim across a lake to her residence using homemade flippers on 4 May, apparently to tell her of his premonition that she was about to be assassinated.

"The fact that I am the only party being prosecuted shows the partiality of the prosecution," the Nobel peace prize laureate said in the statement, which was submitted to the court.

Suu Kyi pleaded not guilty to the charges last week, but observers believe she will be found guilty in order to allow the government to detain her during next year's elections.

The NLD won elections in 1990 but the military, which has ruled the country since 1962, ignored the results and placed her in detention.

Britain and the US have condemned the trial, and last night Barack Obama said that Suu Kyi's continued detention, isolation and "show trial based on spurious charges" cast serious doubt on the Burmese government's willingness to be a responsible member of the international community.

"I strongly condemn her house arrest and detention, which have also been condemned around the world," he said in a statement.

"I call on the Burmese government to release National League for Democracy secretary general and Nobel peace prizewinner Aung San Suu Kyi from detention immediately and unconditionally."

Gordon Brown also demanded her release in a 64-word statement written to mark her 64th birthday next month.

A number of celebrities, including George Clooney and David Beckham, are also preparing messages of support for 64forSuu.org.

"I add my voice to the growing chorus of those demanding your release," Brown said. "For too long the world has failed to act in the face of this intolerable injustice. That is now changing. The clamour for your release is growing across Europe, Asia, and the entire world. We must do all we can to make this birthday the last you spend without your freedom."

Yesterday, Suu Kyi told the court that she had no prior knowledge of an American man's plan to visit her home in Rangoon and had not broken the terms of her house arrest.