Support for Suu Kyi

Suu Kyi, 63, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner, was taken from her family compound Thursday and brought to Yangon's Insein Prison to hear charges against herself, her two maids and her doctor for allowing an unauthorized visit from US national John Yettaw.

Yettaw was detained last week for sneaking into her off-limits house and staying there for two days before he was caught. The American swam across a lake to gain access to the house. He was also charged with violating the security law and immigration conditions, according to one of her lawyers, Hla Myo Myint.

"The authorities have charged Aung San Suu Kyi and her two maids," Hla Myo Myint told reporters outside the prison.

A spokesman for opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which Suu Kyi leads, said she had been charged under Burma's Law Safeguarding the State from the Dangers of Subversive Elements, which carries a three-to-five-year jail term if a detainee "violates the restrictions imposed on them."

The trial was scheduled to begin on Monday, Suu Kyi's attorney Kyi Win said.

There is "no justification" for the new charges brought against Suu Kyi, the European Union's special envoy to Burma, Piero Fassino said.

He also told Italy's Channel 5 television, that there is no justification for the decision to charge her with breaching the terms of her house arrest and put her on trial next Monday.

Fassino said the international community should use "every possible means to press for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi" as well as "the 2,000 other political prisoners who are held in Burmese jails."

Germany "deeply concerned"

In Berlin, the German foreign ministry issued a statement saying it was "very deeply concerned about her situation and health." Foreign ministry spokesman, Jens Ploetner, said the Burmese government should drop the charges and end her house arrest.

The Foreign Ministry added that a "permanent reconciliation and stability in Burma" could only be achieved by allowing all political and ethnic groups to enter the political process.

Europe calls for international efforts to pressure Burma

The Italian envoy said that Europe should work with the United States and Asian countries to "make the Burmese junta understand that its oppressive and dictatorial policy is unacceptable for the international community."

Suu Kyi, known to be in poor health, has been kept in near-isolation for the past six years with only weekly visits by her doctors allowed, as well as occasional visits by United Nations special envoys.

In a separate statement, the EU voiced concern over Suu Kyi's health and urged the junta to allow "immediate and proper health care" for the ailing pro-democracy figure.

"The European Union expresses its strong concern following reports on the health of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," the Czech EU presidency said in a statement on behalf of the 27 EU member states, also renewing the call for her unconditional release from house arrest. "The EU calls on the authorities of Burma/Myanmar to guarantee for Ms Suu Kyi immediate and proper medical care, as well as access for her personal attorney," the statement added.

In Burma, the NLD immediately criticized the decision to send Suu Kyi to trial. "Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who was nearly due to finish her house arrest term, has been placed in a bungalow house in Insein Prison ... although she has not admitted to any crime," the NLD said in a statement.

Suu Kyi's current sentence is due to expire on May 27.

US citizen blamed for situation

Suu Kyi's main lawyer Kyi Win pinned the blame on John Yettaw - whom authorities in Rangoon have described as a 53-year-old Vietnam War veteran - saying that Aung San Suu Kyi had asked him to leave her house. "We have to blame him," Kyi Win said. "He is a fool."

It was apparently the second time that Yettaw had tried to meet Suu Kyi at her home. Kyi Win said Yettaw was told to leave after attempting to meet her in 2008. This time Yettaw refused.

"He said he was so tired and wanted to rest, but she pleaded with him. Then he slept overnight on the ground floor," Kyi Win told the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).

Yettaw met US embassy officials on Wednesday but they have revealed little about his motives. "We cannot comment. He didn't tell us any details," embassy spokesman Richard Mei said.

Burma's ruling military junta has scheduled a general election next year, and it is deemed unlikely that it would want Suu Kyi to be free during the polls. Her party won the 1990 polls by a landslide but has been denied power by the military for the past 19 years.

"The regime filed these charges to extend her detention beyond the six years," said Aung Din, the executive director of the US Campaign for Burma, a pro-democracy group.

"It is an act of blackmailing the international community, especially the United States, demanding a ransom to get back an American citizen and better treatment for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," he said.