It is reported  that the trial of Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi  has resumed in Rangoon, with lawyers presenting closing statements to court.

The Nobel peace laureate faces her final trial hearing on charges of breaching the conditions of her house arrest in May when a US man evaded guards and swam to her lakeside home.

Security was extremely tight near the Yangon jail on Friday, witnesses said, with more than 10 police trucks and armed officers manning a barricade by the prison gates where about 40 National League for Democracy (NLD) supporters were gathered.

If convicted the Nobel peace laureate faces up to five years in jail.

The trial has been widely condemned as a ploy to keep Suu Kyi  in custody until after the elections, which is planned by the military government for next year. Despite winning the last elections in 1988 Suu Kyi’s  NLD was never allowed to take power.

Diplomats from the embassies of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Norway  have been permitted to attend the hearing although most of the trial has been held behind closed doors.

Ms Suu Kyi, 64, has spent nearly 14 of the last 20 years in detention, much of it at her Rangoon home.

Source: AFA, BBC