Britain 's ambassador to Myanmar , Mark Canning , told CNN . About 100 supporters of Suu Kyi waited outside . The American visitor , John Yettaw , is charged with immigration violations and trespassing into a restrictive area , charges that carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison . Watch more on Suu Kyi 's trial '' He is accused of staying overnight in Suu Kyi 's lakeside home earlier this month , violating the conditions of her house arrest , according to the country 's ruling military junta , which rarely grants her visitors . The central Missouri man was appointed a lawyer selected by the U.S. embassy , Win said . Suu Kyi , the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate , and two of her maids have been detained under Section 22 of the country 's legal code -- a law against subversion -- according to Nyan Win , spokesman for Suu Kyi 's National League for Democracy . Suu Kyi , 63 , had been scheduled to be released from house arrest later this month after being incarcerated 13 of the past 19 years . She is now being held in a specially built
YANGON , Myanmar -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and an American man who swam to her lakeside home went on trial in the military dictatorship Monday behind closed doors inside a prison compound . Soldiers guard the entrance to Insein Prison on Monday in Yangon , Myanmar . The trial is expected to last about three months , said Nyan Win , spokesman for her National League for Democracy party . Suu Kyi 's lawyer asked the court to open up the hearings but was turned down because of security concerns , Win said . Police put up roadblocks on the streets leading to the Insean Prison near Yangon , with a half-dozen officers at each station . Shops around the prison were closed , according to opposition exile groups . A group of diplomats from Germany , Italy , Australia and Britain tried to pass through the barricades to attend the trial . They were stopped and turned away . `` It was a way of signaling our concern at what 's happening and the need for the proceedings in the court to take place in an open and transparent fashion , ''