Burmese court rejects three people due to appear in defence of opposition leader accused of breaking terms of house arrest

This article is more than 11 years old

This article is more than 11 years old

Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese opposition leader, will only be allowed to call one witness to testify in her defence against charges of breaking the terms of her house arrest, the court trying her case ruled today.

Three other defence witnesses were barred by the court, her lawyers said. Suu Kyi faces up to five years in prison for allowing an American man to spend two days at her lakeside compound earlier this month. She has already spent 13 of the last 19 years in detention.

Nyan Win, one of her lawyers, said only a legalpeace prize laureate said in the statement, which was submitted to the court.

Suu Kyi pleaded not guilty to the charges last week, but observers believe she will be found guilty in order to allow the government to detain her during next year's elections.

The NLD won elections in 1990 but the military, which has ruled the country since 1962, ignored the results and placed her in detention.

Britain and the US have condemned the trial, and last night Barack Obama said that Suu Kyi's continued detention, isolation and "show trial based on spurious charges" cast serious doubt on the Burmese government's willingness to be a responsible member of the international community.

"I strongly condemn her house arrest and detention, which have also been condemned around the world," he said in a