On May 4, 2009, American John Yettaw (1955 – 2021) trespassed upon the residence of Myanmar political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi, two weeks before her scheduled release from house arrest on May 27. This illegal visit prompted Suu Kyi's arrest on May 13, 2009. Yettaw himself was arrested by Myanmar authorities on May 6. He was charged on May 14 with illegally entering a restricted zone, illegal swimming, and breaking immigration laws. It is illegal in Myanmar to have a guest stay overnight at one's home without notifying the authorities first.
Their trial began on May 18, 2009. On August 11, Yettaw was sentenced on three counts totaling seven years, including four years of hard labor. Suu Kyi was sentenced to eighteen months of house arrest. On August 14, US Senator Jim Webb arrived in Burma and successfully negotiated Yettaw's release and August 16 deportation.
Myanmar authorities asserted that Yettaw's visits were instigated by opposition groups as part of efforts to pressure and embarrass the government; however, no evidence of this ever came to light. The Myanmar government disqualified Suu Kyi from participating in the 2010 elections.
2008 visit
In May 2008, Yettaw and his teenage son had taken a trip to Asia. His son returned home in September to start school, but Yettaw continued on to Mae Sot, Thailand, where he took up residence in a hotel, bought a motorcycle and developed a friendship with a Thai resident. Yettaw developed a deep interest in Aung San Suu Kyi and told people that he had to bring international attention to her situation. He tried unsuccessfully to get work at Thai NGOs. In October, after having a vision that he was a defender of the oppressed, he left Mae Sot without paying any of his bills. On October 27 in Bangkok, he obtained a Myanmar visa. On November 7, he flew to Yangon, Myanmar.
On November 30, Yettaw reached Aung San Suu Kyi's home by swimming across Lake Inya. He entered the property via a culvert on University Avenue Road and Inya Myaing Road. He then made his way over a small fence behind the house, a restricted zone and without communication devices. Myanmar authorities had forbidden Aung San Suu Kyi from having contact with outsiders. His trek was successful despite her residence being surrounded by over a dozen security guards 24 hours a day, and despite the presence of police boats that frequently patrolled local waters. Yettaw was prevented by the house staff from communicating with Aung San Suu Kyi, but he stayed there for a period of longer than two days.
During this initial visit, Yettaw gave her at least six books, including The Book of Mormon, along with a letter written by Yettaw's daughter. This letter was later ripped up by Aung San Suu Kyi. She reported Yettaw's visit to her doctor who alerted authorities. Authorities took no action. He left the property via the same route he arrived. According to Yettaw, upon his departure from her house, police officers apprehended him, aimed guns at him, asked "What are you doing here?", but then let him go.
Unable to fly out of Bangkok, Thailand due to political protests involving the seizure of Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Yettaw laid over at the Highland Hotel in Mae Sot for over a month. There he spoke openly to several people about his failed attempt to see Aung San Suu Kyi and his plans to try again. During this time he frequently visited refugee schools and met the children. He was often seen with a Thai woman. He also visited the Mae Tao Clinic nearly a dozen times, where he communicated with Bo Kyi of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
2009 visit and arrest In mid-April 2009, Yettaw travelled from Missouri to California to see an ex-wife. He informed her that he needed to go to Asia to obtain details on a paper he was writing about forgiveness. On April 20, Yettaw flew to Bangkok, leaving his children with various friends. He told his family that he was working on a book and searching for US soldiers missing in action from the Vietnam War. According to Yettaw's wife, he wanted to interview Aung San Suu Kyi about forgiveness and resilience. Soon thereafter, Yettaw visited exiled Burmese groups in Thailand and told them about a faith-based book he was writing on heroism. Yettaw spent a week in Bangkok waiting for his Myanmar visa to clear.
On the evening of May 3, 2009, Yettaw swam a distance across Lake Inya in Yangon to the house where Aung San Suu Kyi was held under house arrest by Burmese authorities. He planned his route across the lake using Google Earth. Some policemen saw him during his swim and threw rocks at him.
Using the same route he used during the 2008 visit, via the culvert, and over a small fence, Yettaw successfully evaded the government security guards and entered her residence at 5 am on May 4. He entered the house by climbing up a drain. Inside, he came upon two female assistants, Khin Khin Win and Win Ma Ma, a mother and daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi's sole sanctioned companions. He informed them that he was tired, hungry and suffered from diabetes. The women fed him. He asked Aung San Suu Kyi if he could stay at the house for a few days. She refused, and her caretakers threatened to turn him in to the authorities, but Aung San Suu Kyi agreed to let him stay on the ground floor after he began to complain about leg cramps. During his stay, they provided him with rehydration salts and meals. Some of his time there he devoted to prayer.
The Myanmar government requires all non-family overnight visitors to be registered and forbids overnight stays by foreigners. According to Aung San Suu Kyi and her assistants, he stayed there as an uninvited, unwelcomed guest. Yettaw's family later stated that he was "well-intentioned" and "unaware of the possible consequences."
Yettaw left the house just before midnight (11:45 pm) on May 4, the same day he arrived, although some accounts allege he left on May 5. He then swam towards the home of the US Counselor, which shares a fence with Kanthaya Hospital. According to Burmese officials, Yettaw left behind "two black chadors, two black scarves, two long skirts, one red torch light, six color pencils in a plastic bag, three pairs of sunglasses, two signal lights, a pair of swimming glasses, one two-pin plug, two pieces of circuit wire, one recharger, a black bag with a zip in it that was used to keep the apparatuses, a plastic bag with a zip in it, two pairs of gray stockings, five parts of an English book, and a bag with pieces of torn paper sheets in it." At 5 AM on May 5, Yettaw was apprehended by police near the International Business Center on the lake's west bank, less than 100 feet from the US counselor's home.
Arrest and fallout Originally scheduled to return to the United States June 24, Yettaw was arrested May 6 and taken to Insein prison; on May 14 he was charged with illegally entering a restricted zone, illegal swimming and breaking immigration laws. Illegal entry carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison; immigration violations carry up to one year in jail. Yettaw shared his cell with two Burmese prisoners. He refused to eat food, hoping to induce another vision.
Upon his arrest he was carrying two empty five-litre plastic bottles, two small bags, his US passport, a flashlight, a camera protected by plastic wrap, a pair of pliers, a screw driver, a pair of folding pliers with laser, six memory cards, a torch light with dry cells, 28 separate dry cells, a hat, a white shirt with long sleeves, a pair of trousers, seven paper sheets with written English words, two paper sheets with printed words, two envelopes, two $100 bills, two $10 bills, one $50 bill, ninety-three 1000-kyat notes, and 10 visiting cards. Pictures on his camera included photographs of Aung San, a fighting peacock and a bookshelf.
As a result of the 2009 visit, the authorities declared that Aung San Suu Kyi breached the conditions of her house arrest. She was charged under the country's Law Safeguarding the State from the Dangers of Subversive Elements, which carried a three-to-five-year jail term. She and her two caretakers, Khin Khin Win and Win Ma Ma, were removed to the Insein prison, where they stayed for the duration of the trial. According to Police Brigadier General Myint Thein, prior to the Yettaw visit, authorities had considered letting Aung San Suu Kyi go free, but the incident "infringed on existing law and we unavoidably and regretfully had to take legal action against her."
Aung San Suu Kyi's followers insisted that the government used this incident to continue her detention until after the 2010 general elections. Other supporters have raised suspicions that the incident was constructed by the government. The Myanmar government alleged that Yettaw's visit involved a conspiracy of "internal and external anti-government elements" meant "to intensify international pressure" to release her. Her lawyer Kyi Win said on May 14: "Everyone is irritated with this American. All of these problems are his fault. He is a fool. Suu Kyi begged him to go back, but he said he was too tired. He slept overnight on the first floor." However, two weeks later her defense lawyer Nyan Win stated that "Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said she bore no grudge against Mr. Yettaw or his family."
Authorities closely investigated security lapses involving Yettaw's visits. It was announced on August 7 that after questioning sixty-one security members of the police battalion in question, one police lieutenant colonel was demoted, an undisclosed number of personnel were given three- to six-month prison terms for dereliction of duty, and over twenty others received actions against them under a Police Disciplinary Rule.
Tin Myo Win, Suu Kyi's physician, was under investigation as a conspirator but was released before the trial began.
Trial The criminal case, #47/2009, levied against Yettaw, Aung San Suu Kyi, Khin Khin Win and Win Ma Ma, began May 18, 2009 in the Yangon North District Court. Suu Kyi and Yettaw each pleaded not guilty to their charges.
On the first day a US consular officer was present to observe. Khin Maung Oo represented Yettaw. Yettaw faced charges relating to, according to the United States State Department, "immigration, trespassing into a restricted zone, and violating a law that protects the state from those desiring to cause subversive acts." The first day's witnesses included the two police officers who apprehended Yettaw in Inya Lake after he swam away from Aung San Suu Kyi's house. The officers initially thought Yettaw was a thief. When they discovered he was a foreigner, they turned him over to the Special Branch, which usually handles political cases.
On May 20, police major Tin Zaw Htun was called by the prosecution to testify. He provided details of items Yettaw left at her home, including three pair of sunglasses and two abaya-like dresses. The dresses and sunglasses were modelled for the court by two women. The Burmese government alleged that Yettaw used these garments to disguise himself. When questioned about these and other items left behind, Aung San Suu Kyi explained that Yettaw had left them for her as presents. Police captain Sa Kyaw Win was also called by the prosecution. He testified that on May 6 he seized sixty-one items from Yettaw's room on the fifth floor of the Beauty Land Hotel in Yangon. Confiscated items included: a camcorder and charger, a pair of night glasses, a vocal translator, a mobile phone and charger, a battery charger, a USB memory stick, a pair of scissors, a map published by Myanmar Tourism Service, and money hidden in a phone book.