New Delhi (Mizzima) – In an ostensible attempt at transparency the Burmese military junta  on Tuesday allowed diplomats and journalists to be present at the court proceedings in Rangoon’s Insein prison, where a verdict will be pronounced on the ongoing trial of Aung San Suu Kyi and her three other co-defendants.

A Rangoon-based diplomat told Mizzima that several foreign missions based in Rangoon as well as a few others, who have arrived recently, along with journalists were given permission to be inside the court-room.

“I am not sure how many diplomats and journalists are there but I understand that several of them, even some diplomats who have recently come to Burma to witness the trial were allowed into the court today,” the diplomat told Mizzima.

The court has fixed Tuesday for pronouncing the verdict of the nearly three-month long trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was charged for violating the security terms of her house arrest and ‘harbouring’ an American man who swam across a lake and entered her home in early May.

Aung San Suu Kyi, her two live-in party mates and the American man could face up to five years in prison, if found guilty.

Critics and opposition members have speculated that the court is likely to find Aung San Suu Kyi guilty, as the junta is determined to keep her away from the people as it prepares for a general election in 2010.