Media allowed into Suu Kyi trial

Updated 2 hours 5 minutes ago
Aung San Suu Kyi She is accused of breaching the terms of her house arrest.

Aung San Suu Kyi She is accused of breaching the terms of her house arrest. (Reuters: Sukree Sukplang, file photo)

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Burma's military regime will allow some reporters from foreign and local news organisations to cover the trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, officials said.

The announcement came after the first two days of hearings at Insein Prison near Rangoon were held behind closed doors, and it is the first time the junta has allowed media into the trial of a leading activist.

"Ten journalists will go this afternoon to get the news from the trial," a Burma official said on the morning of the third day, without explaining the apparent change of policy.

Five will be from foreign news organisations and five from local journals and magazines, the official said, without specifying which organisations would be allowed to report on the trial.

The regime's change of heart comes amid intensifying international criticism of the charges against Ms Suu Kyi and the nature of the legal proceedings against the Nobel Peace Prize winner.

She is accused of breaching the terms of her house arrest in connection with a bizarre incident earlier this month in which an American man, John Yettaw, swam to her lakeside house and stayed there for at least two nights.

The trial has so far heard from five police witnesses, with the only reports so far emerging through Ms Suu Kyi's legal team and Burma's tightly controlled state media.

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