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Aung San Suu Kyi ‘looks unwell’ as she goes on trial in Myanmar

This article is more than 12 months old

NAYPYITAW Myanmar's ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi went on trial yesterday, appearing unwell as the first witnesses took the stand in cases against her of illegally possessing walkie-talkie radios and breaking coronavirus protocols, her lawyer said.

Ms Suu Kyi, 75, faces a slew of charges since being overthrown by the army in a Feb 1 coup that cut short a decade of tentative democratic reforms and has plunged the South-east Asian country into chaos.

"Daw Aung San Suu Kyi seemed not very well, but throughout the hearing, she seemed quite interested and paid keen attention," the head of her legal team, Mr Khin Maung Zaw, said in a statement after the day of hearings.

The court heard a police force major testify that Ms Suu Kyi broke coronavirus restrictions during last year's elections that her National League for Democracy (NLD) party won in a landslide, her lawyer Min Min Soe told AFP.

Another police major testified on separate charges accusing her of illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies, she added.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate faced three cases yesterday at the specially built court in the capital Naypyitaw, where she had already appeared at preliminary hearings. Yesterday's hearings lasted more than five hours.

A separate trial is scheduled to start today over sedition charges she faces alongside ousted president Win Myint and another senior member of the NLD. If convicted of all charges, Ms Suu Kyi faces more than a decade in jail. - REUTERS, AFP

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