Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi says she did not violate her house arrest when an American man swam to her house, according to journalists and diplomats present at her court appearance.
"I didn't," the Nobel Peace Prize winner replied on Tuesday when a judge at the court in Yangon's Insein jail asked her whether she had breached the terms of the restriction order under which she is detained.
Ms Suu Kyi was taking the stand for the first time since Myanmar's military regime charged her after American John Yettaw swam across a lake to reach her home on 4 May, claiming he had dreamt her life was in danger. He spent two days there.
Police Brigadier General Myint Thein said Ms Suu Kyi allowed him to stay, "talked to him, provided him with food and clothes".
But Ms Suu Kyi said Mr Yettaw was not invited and she told him to leave, but he refused.
"I didn't know about it (Mr Yettaw's visit) immediately. I was informed about it at 5am. My assistant told me that a man had arrived," the 63-year-old told the court.
Ms Suu Kyi faces up to five years in jail if convicted. She has spent 13 of the last 19 years in detention, most of them at her house in Yangon.
The case has drawn international condemnation and is widely seen as an attempt by the ruling military generals to keep the National League for Democracy leader in detention during elections next year.
Ms Suu Kyi's five-year house arrest order began on 30 May 2003 and expires on Wednesday. But she is expected to be found guilty on charges of violating her detention.
Police Brigadier General Myint Thein said on Tuesday that authorities had considered freeing Ms Suu Kyi after her detention order ran out.
However, he said Ms Suu Kyi could be held for another six months of house arrest because a recalculation showed she has completed only four-and-a-half years.
