Yangon: Ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi asked the people of Myanmar to stay “united” in the face of military rule, her lawyers said, as she reappeared in a junta court.
The Nobel laureate, and daughter of independence hero General Aung San, has been under house arrest since a February coup that sparked huge pro-democracy protests the junta has tried to crush with deadly force.
Invisible to the outside world bar a handful of courtroom appearances, Suu Kyi, 76, has been hit with an eclectic raft of charges. She could face more than a decade in prison if convicted on all counts.
“She asked the people to stay united and be consistent,” Suu Kyi’s lawyer Min Min Soe told reporters.
The specially-convened court in the capital Naypyidaw also heard testimony on a separate charge of sedition, although Suu Kyi’s legal team argued two documents submitted by the prosecution were inadmissible as they were unsigned.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since Suu Kyi’s ouster, with huge protests, renewed clashes between the military and ethnic rebel armies in border regions, and an economy spiraling into freefall.
The military has cracked down brutally on dissent — shooting protesters, arresting suspected dissidents in night raids, shutting down news outlets, and rounding up journalists.
