Gag order keeps Aung San Suu Kyi’s court testimony secret in Myanmar
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Her courtroom testimony in the capital Naypyidaw, however, was not publicly available due to a gag order imposed on her legal team by the military junta.
That charge stems from letters bearing their names that were sent to embassies urging them not to recognize the junta.
Suu Kyi, who was Myanmar’s state counselor and de facto leader of the country, has been hit with a raft of criminal charges that could see her put behind bars for decades if found guilty.
They include several charges of corruption — which carry a maximum prison sentence of 15 years — violating Covid-19 pandemic restrictions during the 2020 election campaign, illegally importing and possessing walkie talkies, and breaking the colonial-era Official Secrets Act — which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
Myanmar’s state media — the mouthpiece of the junta — has not reported on Tuesday’s court proceedings and the hearings are closed to reporters and the public. The gag order imposed on Suu Kyi’s legal team means there is now little avenue for the world to know how her trial is progressing, or about her health.
In September, Suu Kyi appeared “dizzy” as she heard charges and was deemed too ill to attend court. Her lawyer in early October asked the court that hearings for each case be held every two weeks rather than every week, over concerns the busy schedule was having on her health, according to Reuters.
A military spokesperson did not answer CNN’s calls for comment.
Win Myint said he declined the proposal, saying he was in good health, according to his lawyer. Officers then threatened his decision would “cause harm” but Win Myint said he would rather die than consent, the lawyer told CNN.
The gag order on Suu Kyi and Win Myint’s lawyers was imposed following this hearing.
ASEAN snub over continued violence
Tuesday also marked the first day of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders summit in Brunei. The summit began without a representative from Myanmar after the bloc excluded Gen. Min Aung Hlaing from attending over a failure to end the violence, allow humanitarian aid into the country and give access to an ASEAN envoy.
Myanmar has been wracked by violence, unrest and humanitarian crises since the military, led by Min Aung Hlaing, seized power more than eight months ago.
Almost 1,200 people have been killed by security forces since the coup, and nearly 9,200 have been arrested — including journalists, activists, protesters and anyone deemed in opposition of the military — with credible reports of torture, according to human rights and advocacy group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
The junta has also disputed the number of people killed since the coup and blames the violence on the National Unity Government (NUG) — which operates mainly from abroad or undercover and considers itself the legitimate government in Myanmar — and various ethnic armed organizations, which it labeled “terrorist groups.”
Cape Diamond contributed reporting.
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