Asian Leaders Condemn Suu Kyi Trial

The trial of Aung San Suu Kyi drew unusually strong condemnation from Asian leaders as it entered its second day today, the BBC reports. A statement from the ASEAN bloc urged Burma's ruling military junta to ensure the ailing 63-year-old was given proper medical care, repeated a call for her immediate release, and warned that the government's "honor and credibility" were at stake.

Nine of Suu Kyi's fellow Nobel Peace Prize-winners joined the condemnation, CNN reports. "The trial is a mockery," they wrote in a letter that accused the junta of seeking to extend her detention through trumped-up charges and urged the UN secretary-general to intervene. Dozens of Suu Kyi's supporters gathered outside the courthouse, where they were filmed by plainclothes police. The trial is expected to last three months.
(More ASEAN stories.)