Lawyers for jailed pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi made a final effort to reinstate two key witnesses in her delayed trial when they appeared before Myanmar's highest court on Wednesday. Suu Kyi is charged with violating the terms of her house arrest when an uninvited American man swam secretly to her closely guarded lakeside home last month and stayed two days. The hearing has drawn outrage from the international community and Suu Kyi's local supporters,who say the military government is using the bizarre incident as an excuse to keep the Nobel Peace Prize laureate detained through next year's elections. The trial resumes June 26. If convicted,the 63-year-old faces up to five years in prison. The District Court trying Suu Kyi initially allowed only one of four defence witnesses to take the stand. On appeal,the Yangon Divisional Court ruled last week that a second witness could be heard. Two senior members of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party remain barred from giving testimony. "I am very optimistic that the court will accept our revised appeal because our arguments to reinstate our witnesses are in accordance with the law," Kyi Win,Suu Kyi's leading lawyer,said shortly before presenting his arguments before the High Court,which was ringed by tight security.
