John Yettaw: I'd do it again if I had the chance
John Yettaw, US man who swam to house of Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi, says he is 'heartbroken' over her continued detention
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Thursday, 20, Aug 2009 11:45
By Matthew Champion.
The American man whose night-time swim led to a further 18 months detention for Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi says he has no regrets over his actions.
John Yettaw told reporters on his return to the United States last night that he would be prepared to intervene in a similar fashion again, despite the sentence the democracy icon received.
Daw Suu Kyi was days away from seeing her latest period of house arrest expire when Mr Yettaw swam across a lake that surrounds her dilapidated residence in Rangoon to warn her of a "vision" her life was in danger.
Western governments dismissed the charges and subsequent conviction of Daw Suu Kyi and her two live-in aides over breaching the terms of her house arrest as politically-motivated, with elections due to take place next year.
Supporters of the National League for Democracy leader were aghast at Mr Yettaw's actions, describing the 53-year-old Missouri resident as a madman.
Upon arrival at Chicago's O'Hare international airport to catch a connecting flight on Wednesday, Mr Yettaw seemed unrepentant.
"If I had to do it again, I would do it a hundred times, a hundred times, to save her life," he said.
But the former military man, wearing a surgical mask and being pushed in a wheelchair, added: "That they locked her up, it just breaks my heart."
Mr Yettaw was initially sentenced to a period of hard labour for his role in the Daw Suu Kyi charges, but an intervention by US senator Jim Webb saw him deported instead.
Daw Suu Kyi, 64, has spent 14 of the past 20 years in detention since her NLD party won a landslide victory in democratic elections that have never been recognised by Burma's military rulers.