Verdict for Aung San Suu Kyi Delayed Until August 11

Aung San Suu Kyi (File photo)

A Burmese court has postponed issuing a verdict in the trial of Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi until August 11.

Aung San Suu Kyi's lawyer Nyan Win told reporters after the hearing Friday that the judges declared they needed more time to review un unspecified "legal problem" in the case. Defense lawyers have argued that she is being tried under laws from an outdated (1974) constitution.

Security was tight around the notorious Insein prison outside Rangoon in expectation of the court's decision Friday. Burmese authorities had warned Aung San Suu Kyi's supporters against rallying, as tensions rise over the internationally condemned trial.

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon has waned Burma's military government to "give careful consideration to the implications of any verdict."

A spokesman, Farhan Haq, quoted the secretary-general Friday. He said Mr. Ban called on Burma again Thursday to release the opposition leader.

The United States Thursday also called for an immediate and unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi and 2,100 other political prisoners.

Critics say Burma's military government is using the trial as a pretext to keep her from participating in next year's elections.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been on trial for violating the terms of her house arrest in May. She faces five years in prison for allowing an American intruder who swam to her lakeside home to stay at the house overnight. The U.S. intruder, John Yettaw, also is on trial.

Aung San Suu Kyi's lawyers say she is prepared for the worst.

The 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate has spent 14 of the past 20 years under some form of detention, mostly house arrest.