Suu Kyi trial a 'mockery,' laureates say

YANGON, Myanmar, May 19 (UPI) -- The trial of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and a U.S. citizen moved into its second day Tuesday, with nine Nobel laureates calling it a "mockery."

Prosecutors indicated they plan to call 22 witnesses against the Nobel Peace Prize winner, who has been under house arrest for 13 of the last 19 years.

She is on trial with Amerinca John Yettaw, who is charged with violating the conditions of Suu Kyi's house arrest, CNN reported.

The woman's supporters maintain the charges are an excuse by the military junta of the country formerly known as Burma to extend her house arrest.

"The trial is a mockery," nine Nobel Peace prize winners said in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Monday, urging his intervention. Signatories included Costa Rican President Oscar Arias and Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa.

"There is no judicial system in Burma," the letter said. "It is clear that this is an excuse by the military junta to add trumped-up charges at a time when Daw (an honorific recognition) Aung San Suu Kyi's unlawful detention was scheduled to end May 27, 2009."

The charges stem from May 3, when Yettaw allegedly swam almost two miles across a lake behind Suu Kyi's home and stayed for two days.