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Court to consider remaining Suu Kyi witnesses

June 17, 2009 (DVB), An appeal for the readmittance of two witnesses disqualified from testifying in the defense of Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi has been accepted by the Rangoon courtroom in which she is being tried.

Three of Suu Kyi's four witnesses were initially disqualified by the court on unspecified reasons, although one was later readmitted.

The two remaining witnesses, U Win Tin and U Tin Oo, will likely hear the decision on Friday, according to one of Suu Kyi's lawyers.

"We [four lawyers] admitted our appeal statement at the central court this morning and a decision to accept the case was passed around 2:30pm," said Nyan Win.

"We are to go on to another stage; lawyers from both sides are to present argument in a court hearing, and after that we will find out whether the trial will accept our two witnesses back or not."

The court is yet to decide on the date for the next appointment but, Nyan Win said, they would likely hear on Friday.

"We are happy with the court's decision to accept our appeal. This is good news for us on the legal ground , now we can hope for a chance for our witnesses."

The courtroom allowed 14 prosecution witnesses to testify during the hearing, although five were abruptly dropped by the prosecution team.

Tin Oo, the vice-chairman of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, of which Suu Kyi is the leader, is currently under house arrest.

U Win Tin, a former journalist and member of the NLD's Central Executive Committee, was released last year after spending 19 years in prison, the longest spell that any political prisoner has served in Burma.

Reporting by Naw Say Phaw

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