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Myanmar's Supreme Court agrees to review Suu Kyi's appeal
Myanmar's Supreme Court on Monday agreed to review the latest house arrest extension of detained pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent 14 of the past 20 years in some form of detention.
Myanmar's Supreme Court on Monday agreed to review the latest house arrest extension of detained pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent 14 of the past 20 years in some form of detention.
Suu Kyi's lawyers appealed to the apex court last month after a lower court upheld a decision to sentence her to 18 more months of house arrest for briefly sheltering American intruder John Yettaw who swam uninvited to her lakeside home.
The announcement was posted on the notice board of the Supreme Court, Kyodo news agency reported.
The 64-year-old Nobel Peace laureate's legal team argued that her house arrest extension was invalid as it was based on provisions from the 1974 Constitution that was no longer in existence, Suu Kyi's chief lawyer Kyi Win said.
Final arguments are to take place later.
A court had sentenced Suu Kyi on August 11 to three years in prison for violating an internal security law. However, the military junta's head, Senior General Than Shwe immediately commuted the sentence to 18 months.
The defence team appealed to the Divisional Court but the case was rejected in October. The charges stemmed from an incident in which tourist Yettaw swam uninvited to Suu Kyi's lakeside home in May and stayed there for two days.
Yettaw was also convicted and later deported by Myanmar authorities after a visit by US Senator Jim Webb to Yangon.
Despite her party, National League for Democracy sweeping the last elections in 1990, Suu Kyi has spent 14 of the past 20 years in some form of detention.
