As reported in the Guardian, and other media, Burma opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi pleads not guilty to violating house arrest. 

About a week before Aung San Suu Kyi was due to be released from six years of house arrest, she has been charged and put on trial because an American swam across a lake to her house and stayed there for two days.

What a farce.  Suu Kyi is under house arrest and, presumably, constant surveillance, yet some random American is able to swim to her house undetected? 

What this travesty really shows though is that the military regime is terrified of her.  It’s ironic:  with all their power, all the force at their disposal, their control of the media, and despite their evident contempt for the welfare of the Burmese people, the regime lives in fear.  They’re petrified of allowing this frail woman to speak freely or participate in the sure-to-be-rigged elections next year. 

They’re afraid, and rightly so.  They lack the one thing Aung San Suu Kyi has. 

Legitimacy.