Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese opposition leader, has pleaded not guilty to charges that she violated the terms of her house arrest when an American swam a lake to reach her house.
The ailing 63-year-old entered her plea as the court prepared to hand down a verdict that could see her jailed for up to five years. She has been in detention without trial for more than 13 of the past 19 years.
Suu Kyi's lawyer said the presiding judge, Thaung Nyunt, declared that the court accepted the charge that she had broken the terms of her house arrest and asked Suu Kyi if she was guilty.
"I am not guilty. I said I am not guilty because I have not broken any law," she replied, according to her lawyer Nyan Win, who spoke to reporters afterwards.
The same charge was accepted against two women companions who stay with Suu Kyi, and the American John Yettaw, who made an unauthorised visit to her lakeside home. All pleaded not guilty.
Suu Kyi was accused of breaking the terms of her house arrest by allowing Yettaw to stay at her home without permission after he swam across a lake to her villa. Yettaw's motives remain unclear.
As Suu Kyi's trial reached its fifth day, the foreign minister, U Nyan Win, claimed the incident was organised by "internal and external anti-government elements".
The trial is widely seen as a pretext to silence Suu Kyi before next year's state-managed elections. Yesterday the Japanese foreign minister, Hirofumi Nakasone, expressed concerns about the trial in a telephone call to Nyan Win.
According to the English-language version of the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper, Nyan Win responded by claiming the incident was timely and "trumped up to intensify international pressure on Myanmar [Burma]".
Suu Kyi, who is being held at the notorious Insein prison along with other political prisoners, was due to be freed on 27 May after six consecutive years under house arrest. She has been in detention without trial for more than 13 of the past 19 years.
Foreign reporters and observers were allowed to attend Suu Kyi's trial on Wednesday, but were barred again yesterday. According to the state-run newspaper, the court heard Yettaw had filmed Suu Kyi and wanted to upload the video to YouTube. It is understood she refused because she was frightened.
