Lawyer: Suu Kyi 'prepared for the worst'

YANGON, Myanmar, July 29 (UPI) -- Attorneys for Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said their client almost certainly will be convicted and sentenced to prison.

The Myanmar court is expected to deliver its verdict Friday in the trial of Suu Kyi, accused of violating terms of her house arrest by allowing an American to stay at her home where she has spent 14 of the last 20 years in detention.

After her defense team presented closing arguments Tuesday, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate turned to diplomats attending the hearing and said, "I'm afraid the verdict will be painfully obvious," the Times of London reported Wednesday.

"She thanked us for trying to promote a just outcome," an Asian diplomat said.

Diplomatic representatives from the United States, Japan, Singapore and Thailand were allowed to attend the last day of the trial.

If convicted, Suu Kyi could be sentenced up to five years in prison. She said she did not know the American nor his plans and was innocent.

"We have a good chance according to the law but we cannot know what the court will decide because this is a political case," said Nyan Win, a lawyer for Ms. Suu Kyi and spokesman for her party, the National League for Democracy. "I have never seen any defendant in a political case being set free. We have done our best and she is prepared for the worst."

Critics of the dictatorship ruling the country formerly known as Burma accuse the military junta of using the incident as a pretext to prevent Suu Kyi from participating in elections next year.