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YANGON - A US man on trial in Myanmar alongside Aung San Suu Kyi has had more epileptic seizures in intensive care in hospital, where he is being closely tended by seven medics, the national police chief said Friday.
Khin Yee told reporters that 54-year-old John Yettaw had been fasting for long periods since his arrest in May, but said any further delay to the trial's verdict date would be a "decision for the court".
"He (Yettaw) has been having fits, even today he had three seizures," Khin Yee said.
"Because of his religious beliefs, since two days after he was arrested on May 6 he fasted for 44 days," Khin Yee said, adding that Yettaw had refused solid food for a total of 61 days.
The police chief said that prison authorities had given Yettaw, a devout Mormon, a high-energy protein drink during his periods of fasting.
The former military veteran, who reportedly suffers from epilepsy, diabetes and a heart complaint, is being treated at Yangon General Hospital after being taken from Insein prison on Monday night.
American Yettaw is on trial in the military-run nation alongside democracy icon Suu Kyi and two of her female aides for swimming to her lakeside home in May -- he says to warn her of his vision she would be assassinated.
Khin Yee also announced that 20 security officials responsible for Suu Kyi's home security had been given either three-month prison sentences or demoted and transferred from their positions following Yettaw's unannounced visit.
At the beginning of the trial 64-year-old opposition leader Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for most the last 20 years, blamed security failures by the junta for the incident.
Yettaw faces charges of abetting Suu Kyi's breach of security laws, immigration violations and a municipal charge of illegal swimming. All four defendants face up to five years in prison.
A verdict in Suu Kyi's two-and-a-half month trial had been expected last week but judges postponed their pronouncement until August 11, saying they needed time to review the case.
Myanmar's ruling junta has kept Suu Kyi in detention for nearly 14 of the past 20 years since it refused to recognise her National League for Democracy (NLD) party's landslide victory in elections in 1990.
- AFP/ir
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