New Delhi (mizzima) - Burma’s Chief of Police, Khin Yi, on Thursday accused opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi for having not adequately informed police of the details of the first visit by American John William Yettaw, who is currently standing trial for his visits to the detained pro-democracy leader's Rangoon residence.
Khin Yi, during a rare press briefing at the Drug Elimination Museum in Rangoon’s Kamayut Township, told journalists and diplomats that the detained Nobel Peace Laureate had not informed concerned authorities in a timely manner as to the details of the first visit by Yettaw in November 2008.As National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi only informed the authorities of the visit four days after the event on December 4, 2008, it was difficult for authorities to trace the incident and thus hampered attempts to uncover the truth, Khin Yi added.
Rejecting rumors that the accused suffers from a mental illness, Khin Yi said Yettaw is instead a highly intellectual person.
Aung San Suu Kyi, on trial in Insein prison along with Yettaw and two live-in party members, is charged with breaching her detention regulations by accepting Yettaw, who allegedly swam approximately two kilometers across Inya Lake, into her home and providing him with food and shelter. If found guilty, she could face up to five years imprisonment.
But the pro-democracy leader has pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the charges, saying the security around her home is instead responsible for the break-in.
Khin Yi, during the briefing, said the government believes that Yettaw’s visit was pre-planned by a group working behind the scenes, but failed to identify the group, saying only that authorities are still working on the case.
But opposition groups have in turn accused the junta of using the incident as a pretext to continue detaining the Nobel Peace Laureate in order to keep her out of the public realm in the run-up to the planned 2010 general election.
