Myanmar court resumes proceedings in Suu Kyi cases

Bangkok Desk, Sep 14 (EFE).- A Myanmar court resumed proceedings in the cases against detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday after her first hearing in two months was postponed the previous day due to the 76-year-old feeling unwell, her lawyers told Efe.

Suu Kyi seemed relieved, but she was still “somewhat dizzy,” which she suffered from on Monday, leading to the cancellation of the resumption of the hearings, one of her lawyers said in a message.

The state councilor is facing a number of charges, and is being tried by a special court in the capital in five of them, including inciting violence, violating Covid-19 protocols and illegally importing walkie-talkies.

The process, which was scheduled to wrap up before the end of the year, has seen repeated delays since the last hearing held on June 13 due to the outbreak of Covid-19 in the country, among other reasons.

Suu Kyi was arrested on Feb. 1 by the military who took power that day in a coup and put an end to a decade of incipient democracy in the country.

She is detained in an undisclosed location and has remained practically cut off from developments in Myanmar, plunged into political and social chaos as a result of the military uprising.

Since then, the junta has pursued a range of charges against Suu Kyi, including five cases of alleged corruption – four in Mandalay and one in Yangon – for which on Tuesday she signed the powers of attorney for her team of lawyers.

Suu Kyi also faces another trial in a Yangon court for allegedly violating the Official Secrets Act, a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

The Myanmar junta justifies the coup citing alleged electoral fraud in November’s elections, in which Suu Kyi’s party won a landslide victory, and which were considered free and fair by international observers.

Since the coup, street protests have continued against the military junta across the country, while a civil disobedience movement has paralyzed the administration as well as the private sector.

At least 1,088 people have lost their lives as a result of the violent repression of protests by security forces, while more than 6,450 opponents are being detained, according to the Association for Assistance of Political Prisoners. EFE

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