The trial of ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi will hear its first testimony in a junta court on Jun 14, more than four months after a military coup reported by AFP. Near daily protests have rocked Myanmar since the generals’ putsch removed her government in February, ending a 10-year experiment with democracy.
The mass uprising has been met with a brutal military crackdown that has killed more than 850 people, according to a local monitoring group. The junta has brought an eclectic raft of charges against the Nobel laureate, from illegally accepting 11kg of gold to breaking a colonial-era secrecy law. On Monday, her defence team will cross-examine witnesses over charges she improperly imported walkie-talkies and flouted coronavirus restrictions during last year’s elections that her National League for Democracy (NLD) won in a landslide. Her lawyers – who have been allowed to meet with her just twice since she was placed under house arrest – have said they expect the trial to wrap up by Jul 26. Hearings for the case will take place every Monday. If convicted of all charges, Aung San Suu Kyi, 75, faces more than a decade in jail.
