by Mungpi
Monday, 03 August 2009 22:09
New Delhi (Mizzima) - Detained Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has said the verdict on her trial and three other defendants will test the “Rule of Law” and the judicial system of Burma, a country ruled by military dictators since 1962.
The National League for Democracy, in a statement released on Monday, published comments on the trial made by party leader Aung San Suu Kyi on the last day of the hearing of final arguments on Friday.
The Burmese pro-democracy leader said the verdict on her trial and her two live-in party mates and the uninvited American visitor, will test Burma’s constitution and the judiciary.
“Without first investigating whether the law, that allows detaining me for over five years under house arrest, is legal or illegal, I do not believe that the verdict of the current trial can be given rightly,” she said.
“Equally critical is the principle that justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done, clearly and unequivocally,” she said.
The Burmese democracy icon’s comments came as the judge on Friday postponed the verdict on her trial to August 11. It is widely believed that the postponement of the verdict is to deflect pressure – international and domestic.
But Aung San Suu Kyi told her lawyer and party spokesperson Nyan Win that she is ready to face the verdict.
While the judge did not give any other reason for postponing the verdict, he merely said, there were legal problems in interpreting the constitution and that he needed more time to decide.
Commenting on the legal problem, Aung San Suu Kyi said there were irregularities in interpreting the constitution in the trial and that has caused legal complications.
She said that these complications are “also connected with the elements of the government”, adding that the trial should be legally sanctioned and must be conducted under the protection of the rule of law.
Meanwhile, Burma’s military rulers, in its mouthpiece newspapers last week, said the trial is being conducted as per the principle of the rule of law and cautioned anyone from predicting or commenting on the trial saying it amounts to “contempt of court”.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been charged with violating the law of her house arrest by ‘harbouring’ an American, who swam across a lake and entered her house in early May.
While the prosecution argued that the incident is a violation of the law under the 1974 constitution, the defence said she cannot be charged with a law under a constitution that has been defunct for two decades.
Monday, August 3, 2009
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