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Suu Kyi Expects Guilty Verdict Friday

By John Johnson, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 28, 2009 7:08 PM CDT

(Newser) – Aung San Suu Kyi learns Friday whether she will be found guilty of violating her house arrest, and the Burmese dissident expects the worst. “I’m afraid the verdict will be painfully obvious," she told diplomats in court today as her trial wrapped up. A conviction—she is accused of giving shelter to an American who swam to her home—carries a prison sentence of up to 5 years. At the least, her supporters fear the government will extend her house arrest—due to expire this year—beyond next year's elections.

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Aung San Suu Kyi in 2007. (AP Photo/Myanma News Agency, File)

Nyan Win, defense lawyer of Aung San Suu Kyi. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)

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We have a good chance according to the law but we cannot know what the court will decide because this is a political case.
- Nyan Win, a lawyer for Suu Kyi

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