Burma opened the trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday in an apparent attempt to calm growing international outrage at the regime and its latest crackdown on the Nobel Peace laureate.
Ms Suu Kyi appeared healthy and confident during the 45-minute hearing watched by some 30 diplomats and a handful of Burmese journalists on the third day of her trial inside Rangoon’s notorious Insein Central Prison.
The 63-year-old, known affectionately as “the Lady” by her supporters, faces up to five years in jail if found guilty of breaking the terms of her latest house arrest.
“Thank you very much for coming and for your support,” Ms Suu Kyi told diplomats after the hearing. “I hope to meet you in better days.”
Singapore’s foreign ministry said she told the diplomats that national reconciliation was still possible “if all parties so wished”.
“She also expressed the view that it was not too late for something good to come out of this unfortunate incident.”
The case against Ms Suu Kyi, accused of violating her house arrest after an uninvited American intruder, John Yettaw (53), swam to her lakeside home two weeks ago, has outraged the West and triggered threats of new sanctions against the regime.