Prosecution witnesses continued to give evidence on the second day of Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial before a special court in Rangoon’s Insein Prison on Tuesday.
Sources within her National League for Democracy (NLD) said Suu Kyi and other defendants were not allowed to testify.
Evidence was heard on Tuesday from five government officials, including police Lt-Col Maung Muang Khin of the Criminal Investigation Department, and immigration officer Myat Twin, according to the NLD sources.
The sources said Suu Kyi was brought into the courtroom by women security officers.
Speaking on Tuesday to The Irrawaddy, one of Suu Kyi’s former lawyers, Aung Thein, who has been barred from defending her, challenged the official account of the circumstances leading to the NLD leader’s arrest and arraignment.
State-run newspapers reported on Tuesday that an American citizen, John William Yettaw, swam twice across Inya Lake to Suu Kyi’s home, in November 2008 and again this month.
On his second visit, Suu Kyi had allowed him to stay for two nights, giving him food and drink, the official reports said.
Aung Thein described the official version of events as “a story.” Suu Kyi’s house was well guarded by security men, who were also posted on the banks of the lake, he said.
Another lawyer, Kyi Win, said Suu Kyi had told Yettaw to leave her house, but he had refused. She did not report him to the authorities because she did not want anybody to get into trouble, Kyi Win said.
Suu Kyi’s doctor, Tin Myo Win, was also arrested last week and accused of knowing about Yettaw’s visit, but he was later released.
“Why didn’t they [the authorities] take action when Dr Tin Myo Win informed them that a US citizen had entered the house?” he asked.
"The trial will continue with the official complaints by the police. We don't know if Suu Kyi will speak today. All four will be in court," a Myanmar official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The first witness, a police colonel who filed the original complaint against her, gave evidence on Monday. A total of 22 witnesses are expected to testify -- 21 of them police officers.
********ASEAN CALL FOR RELEASE**************
The trial has led to renewed calls for the release of the 63-year-old, and on Monday night Myanmar's partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which rarely criticises the junta, finally joined in.
A statement issued by Thailand, which holds the rotating chairmanship of the bloc, expressed "grave concern about recent developments relating to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, given her fragile health."
"With the eyes of the international community on Myanmar at present, the honour and the credibility of the Government of the Union of Myanmar are at stake," it said.
In Manila, about 30 Filipino protesters marched in front of Myanmar's embassy on Tuesday to call for her freedom and there were similar protests on Monday in Canada, Japan, Thailand and Hong Kong.
Myanmar's tightly controlled state media reported on the trial for the first time overnight, giving a rare mention of the imprisoned activist, who is still seen as the junta's most powerful foe.
State television and radio carried brief items late Monday while the government mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar newspaper and Burmese-language Myanmar Ahlin had back-page reports on Tuesday.
In Washington, US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Monday that a US consular officer was present in the courtroom for the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi and Yettaw.
Yettaw used a pair of homemade flippers to swim across the lake to Aung San Suu Kyi's house, where he allegedly stayed between May 3 and May 5. He also allegedly crossed to the property on November 30, 2008.
Her latest six-year period of detention was due to expire on May 27, but Yettaw's visit has apparently provided the ruling generals with the ammunition they need to extend her detention past polls due in 2010.
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