According to Suu Kyi’s lawyer Nyan Win, Yettaw testified that—on the night of May 3—as he was entering Suu Kyi’s compound, four or five policemen saw him and threw stones at him.

Yettaw reportedly told the court that police evidence, including the Book of Mormon, a video camera, black Muslim robes, stockings and dark glasses were left behind in the lakeside house.

According to Suu Kyi's lawyer, Yettaw testified that Suu Kyi told him to "respect the law" and "go back as soon as possible."

Nyan Win said that during questioning, lawyers and even the judge laughed openly and mocked Yettaw.

The lawyer said that Suu Kyi expressed pity for the American for the way the court had humiliated him.

"She said that even if we don't believe another person’s religion, we still have to respect their opinion," Nyan Win told The Irrawaddy.  

The trial has been taking place behind closed doors inside the compound of Rangoon's notorious Insein prison. A handful of reporters and diplomats were permitted to attend Suu Kyi’s first appearance in court; however, only a representative of the US embassy has been allowed to attend Yettaw’s trial. 

Initially, state media reported that police authorities had fished Yettaw out of Rangoon's Inya Lake early on Wednesday, May 6, while he was returning from a visit to Suu Kyi's home.

The report said the American man had confessed to swimming across the lake, sneaking into Suu Kyi's residence and then swimming back before being spotted by police and arrested. The state-run press reported that he swam with an empty 5-liter plastic water jug, presumably to use as a float, adding that police confiscated the man's belongings, which included a US passport, a black backpack, a pair of pliers, a camera and two US $100 bills.

However, observers have questioned how an asthmatic, diabetic 53-year-old man, apparently not close to peak fitness, could swim two kilometers (1.2 miles).

Yettaw also testified that while in Thailand he had 10 times visited the Mae Taw Clinic in Mae Sot, according to Thursday’s The New Light of Myanmar. He also stated that he had met with Bo Kyi of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma).

Bo Kyi confirmed to The Irrawaddy that he had met Yettaw in Chiang Mai and said that Yettaw had told him he was conducting research on Burmese political prisoners.

Meanwhile, local sources told The Irrawaddy that at 3 p.m. On Thursday, a police convoy left Insein Prison. An unconfirmed report said that police were taking Yettaw to the east bank of Inya Lake apparently to re-enact the scenario of his swim to Suu Kyi’s compound.