Court date set for deposed Myanmar leader Suu Kyi
Former state counselor faces six charges including violation of the Official Secrets Act UCA News reporter Published: May 11, 2021 09:58 AM GMT
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A protester holds up a poster calling for Aung San Suu Kyi s freedom during a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon on Feb. 15. (Photo: AFP)
Deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi is due to make her first in-person appearance in a special courtroom in Myanmar s capital Naypyidaw on May 24.
The 75-year-old former state counselor and Nobel laureate, who has been detained since the Feb. 1 military coup, faces six charges.
Suu Kyi to appear in person in a Myanmar court on May 24 2 minutes read
Bangkok, May 10 (EFE).- Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, accused of several offences after her arrest during February’s military coup, will appear before a judge May 24, the court where her trial is being held said Monday.
During a hearing held on Monday, the judge pointed out that the Supreme Court has said that court hearings cannot be conducted virtually via video conference as has been done until now, Khin Maung Zaw, one of Suu Kyi’s lawyers, told EFE.
The hearing will be held in a special court that will be set up near Suu Kyi’s official residence in the capital city of Naypyitaw, where she has been under house arrest since the military seized power.
RFA
As many as 15 Myanmar soldiers were killed in western Chin state Monday by a newly formed ethnic militia, one of whose fighters vowed to “inflict damage” on the junta that ousted the country’s elected government, witnesses and a local rights group said.
Monday’s ambush by the Chinland Defense Force in Chin state, a mountainous, impoverished area near the border with India and Bangladesh, came amid sporadic protests across Myanmar that were met by violent repression by security forces, and heavy-handed efforts to halt citizens’ donations to the anti-junta movement.
“As many as 15 Burmese soldiers have reportedly been killed in a firefight with local civil militia in Mindat, southern Chin state,” the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) said on its Facebook page. A truck was also seen burning in the town, the group said.
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The new charges came as the Southeast Asian country saw its deadliest day of protests since the Feb. 1 coup on Sunday, with the United Nations saying at least 18 protesters were killed in a stark escalation of violence to quell persistent demonstrations against military rule.
Suu Kyi, who is among more than 1,000 people detained since the Feb. 1 coup, is already facing six years in prison on charges of illegally importing walkie-talkies and for breaching the Natural Disaster Management Law. The additional charges added Monday include incitement under section 505(b) of the country’s penal code used by the authorities to criminalize speech “likely to cause fear or alarm in the public,” her lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said.