Aung San Suu Kyi's House Arrest Expiring Wednesday

The latest six-year period of Ang San Suu Kyi’s house arrest is due to expire on Wednesday. It is also the 19th anniversary this Wednesday of Myanmar’s last general elections which her National League for Democracy (NLD) won by landslide. Suu Kyi should have ruled Myanmar as Prime Minister on account of her victory 19 years ago but was not allowed by Myanmar’s military regime. It is indeed a crucial day for Suu Kyi on Wednesday. The ruling military regime has not announced whether they will release Suu Kyi from house arrest or extend her detention period. Nyan Win, spokesman of the NLD and member of Suu Kyi’s legal team said in a report by the Manila Times: “I don’t see that the authorities will extend her detention [at her house] again. They cannot extend it by law,” he said, adding that under Myanmar’s security laws people can only be held for five years under house arrest. Just a few days before Suu Kyi’s date with freedom, she is again being tried for allegedly allowing John Yettaw, a former American military veteran to enter her house by swimming through the lake to gain access to her detention center. The Manila Times report added: Yettaw has said in the trial that his motive for the stunt was that he wanted to warn Aung San Suu Kyi that she would be assassinated like her father, independence leader General Aung San, who was shot dead in 1947. He brought a number of unusual objects to her house including two black shawls for Muslim women and a copy of the “Book of Mormon.” In the on-going trial,Aung Suu San Kyi pleaded not guilty of the charges. Myanmar’s military regime is committed to hold national elections next year and critics are saying according to the report that ‘charges against her are an excuse for the junta to keep her locked up ahead of next year’s elections’. If she is found guilty, she will have to spend another five years in detention. The trial continues.