Court postpones Suu Kyi’s trial over importing walkie-talkies
A Myanmar junta court on Monday
postponed giving its verdict in Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial for
illegally importing and possessing walkie talkies, a source with knowledge of
the case said.
The Nobel laureate has been detained
since the generals staged a coup against her government on February 1, ending
the Southeast Asian country’s brief period of democracy.
Nationwide protests against the
putsch have been met with a bloody crackdown, with more than 1,300 people
killed and over 11,000 arrested, according to a local monitoring group.
Suu Kyi, 76, was due to hear the
verdict on charges she illegally imported and possessed walkie-talkies — the latest
in a catalogue of judgements in a junta court that could see her jailed for the
rest of her life.
But the judge adjourned the case
until December 27 without explanation, a source with knowledge of the case told
AFP.
Earlier this month, she was jailed
for four years for incitement against the military and breaching Covid-19
restrictions, in a ruling that was widely condemned by the international
community.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing later
commuted the term to two years and said she would serve her sentence under
house arrest in the capital Naypyidaw.
Suu Kyi could had faced three years
in prison if found guilty on the walkie-talkie charges, which stem from the
early hours of the coup when soldiers and police raided her house and allegedly
found her in possession of the contraband equipment.
Under cross-examination, members of
the raiding party admitted they had not possessed a search warrant for the
raid, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.
Suu Kyi is also charged with multiple
counts of corruption — each of which is punishable by 15
years in jail — and violating the official secrets act.
Journalists have been barred from
attending the special court hearings in Naypyidaw and her lawyers were recently
banned from speaking to the media.
Suu Kyi’s long
spells of house arrest under a previous junta were spent at her family’s
colonial-era mansion in Yangon, where she would appear before thousands
gathered on the other side of her garden fence.
Min Aung Hlaing’s regime has
confined her to an undisclosed location in the capital, with her link to the
outside world limited to brief pre-trial meetings with her lawyers.
The junta has also threatened to
dissolve her National League for Democracy, citing alleged fraud in 2020
elections that international observers said were largely free and fair.
A junta-appointed election
commission investigating allegations of fraud during the polls is due to report
its findings in early 2022, the information minister told a press conference
earlier this month.
In recent weeks, other senior
members of the NLD have received long sentences.
A former chief minister was
sentenced to 75 years in jail, while a close Suu Kyi aide was jailed for 20.