Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to appear in a prison court room for all future trial hearings, amid reports that she will be transferred from an unknown detention location to a jail in the capital.
Myanmar’s ousted leader, who is 77, has been held by the military since 1 February last year, when it ousted her democratically elected government, plunging the country into chaos.
She has since been charged with at least 20 offences that could lead to her spending the rest of her life in detention, including multiple counts of corruption, which each carry a maximum penalty of 15 years.
Her legal team have denied the charges, while rights groups have condemned the cases as an attempt to remove her as a political threat.
After last year’s coup, she was initially held at her residence in the capital, Naypyidaw, but has spent the past year at an unknown location, where she is assisted by seven people who were detained alongside her, as well as a dog reportedly gifted by her son.
A source told Reuters that her trial hearings would be moved to a new special court in Naypyidaw’s prison. “It is declared by the judge that a new building for the court is complete,” the source added. They asked to remain anonymous due to sensitivities over the trial.
The Irrawaddy reported that the military ordered that Aung San Suu Kyi should be moved to the prison in Naypyidaw and that she would be kept in solitary confinement. Democratic Voice of Burma English reported she had been moved to the prison. However, it has not been possible to verify these reports.
Information about Aung San Suu Kyi’s trials is limited, as hearings are not accessible to the media and her legal team have been barred from speaking about proceedings.
Aung San Suu Kyi previously spent a total of 15 years in detention at the hands of the military, though she was mostly held at her home, a lakeside villa in Yangon.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an advocacy group that tracks killings and arrests, 11,174 people suspected of opposing the junta are now being held in detention, while 2,007 people have been killed.
Senior members of Aung San Suu Kyi’s government and party are among those detained, including her adviser, the Australian economist Sean Turnell, who is being held at the prison in Naypyidaw.
Turnell and Aung San Suu Kyi are both accused of breaching the Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years, and are due to appear at the court inside the prison on Thursday, according to Associated Press.
Source: The Guardian
BDST: 1536 HRS, JUNE 23, 2022
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