Myanmar opposition leader to stand trial again

Suu Kyi, whose detention was set to end May 27, could face a prison term of up to five years if convicted, said lawyer Hla Myo Myint. The trial is scheduled to start Monday at a special court at Yangon's notorious Insein Prison, where she was arraigned yesterday.

Human rights groups said they feared the trial would be used to justify another extension of Suu Kyi's years-long detention despite international demands for her release. The U.S. State Department expressed deep concerns over new charges against Suu Kyi, as the European Union's special envoy said, "there is no justification for the decision."

Italian envoy Piero Fassino said the international community should use "every possible means to press for the release of Suu Kyi" as well as "the 2,000 other political prisoners who are held in Burmese jails," he added."We have seen this report, which is certainly troubling if true," Agence France-Presse quoted State Department spokesman, Ian Kelly, as saying about Suu Kyi's expected trial. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "has seen it as well, and has asked the Department to work to get more information," added Kelly.

Suspected breaching

The 63-year-old Nobel Prize laureate has already spent more than 13 of the last 19 years - including the past six - in detention without trial for her nonviolent promotion of democracy, despite international pressure for her release.

The American man, who has been identified as 53-year-old John William Yettaw, was arrested last week for allegedly swimming across a lake to secretly enter Suu Kyi's home and staying there for two days. His motives remain unclear.He was charged at yesterday's hearing with illegally entering a restricted zone, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and breaking immigration laws, which is punishable by up to one year behind bars, said Hla Myo Myint.U.S. Embassy spokesman Richard Mei said Yettaw was not legally represented at the arraignment but that the embassy was trying to find him an English-speaking lawyer.

Kyi Win, another lawyer for Suu Kyi, said the opposition leader did not invite the man to her home and in fact told the man to leave. He said the incident was merely a breach of the normally tight security authorities impose on Suu Kyi and her household. "Everyone is very angry with this wretched American. He is the cause of all these problems," Suu Kyi's lawyer Kyi Win told reporters.

"He's a fool."National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, which describes itself as the country's government-in-exile, said the junta was using the incident to extend Suu Kyi's detention. "It is nothing more than a political ploy to hoodwink the international community so that it can keep (Suu Kyi) under lock and key while the military maneuvers its way to election victory on 2010," the group's Prime Minister Sein Win was quoted as saying in a statement.

Suu Kyi has recently been ill, suffering from dehydration and low blood pressure. Her condition improved this week after a visit from a doctor who administered an intravenous drip, said Nyan Win, the spokesman of her National League for Democracy Party, who is part of a team of three lawyers hoping to represent her."Please tell them (reporters) I am well," Kyi Win quoted Suu Kyi as saying. But he added: "I am very concerned about Suu Kyi's health, even though she said she is well."