A judicial appointment with Aung San Suu Kyi, held incommunicado for nearly three months and indicted on multiple occasions by the junta, has been postponed to May 10, while the former Burmese leader has still not been allowed to meet with his defense team.
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Aung San Suu Kyi, 75, appeared on video conference Monday before a court in the capital Naypyidaw. She asked to finally be able to meet with the team responsible for her defense, but the police did not comply with her request, saying they were working on it “step by step”, and the hearing was postponed until May 10, told AFP lawyer Min Min Soe.
The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, emaciated but appearing in good health, is very upset by the slowness of the procedure, added Min Min Soe.
Six counts
Arrested during the military putsch of February 1, Aung San Suu Kyi has not been seen in public since and is under house arrest in Naypyidaw.
She is being prosecuted on six counts, including violating a colonial-era state secrets law.
She is also accused of collecting over a million dollars and eleven kilos of gold in bribes, but has not yet been charged with “corruption”.
If found guilty, she could be banned from politics, even sentenced to long years in prison.
Aung San Suu Kyi “does not have access to news and television. I don’t think she knows the current situation in the country, ”said Min Min Soe.
Daily demonstrations demanding his release and the restoration of democracy continue to be violently repressed by the security forces.
More than 750 people have been killed and nearly 3,500 arrested, according to the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners (AAPP).
On Monday, small groups of protesters took to the streets across the country again, waving “Free Our Leaders” signs and red flags adorned with a golden peacock, the party symbol of Aung San Suu Kyi, the League. National for Democracy (LND).
According to state television, a member of the security forces was killed in Chin State, when his convoy was attacked by armed people.
Obama is stepping up to the plate
The head of the junta, General Min Aung Hlaing, explained his coup d’état by alleging fraud in the November legislative elections, which was won overwhelmingly by the NLD.
He made his first overseas trip since the coup this weekend, attending a summit with officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in Jakarta.
According to sources at the United Nations, he spoke there with the UN special envoy for Burma, Christine Schraner Burgener. The latter, who has so far not been authorized to visit the country, had already called for action against the Burmese generals, fearing “a bloodbath (…) imminent”.
The ten ASEAN member states called for an “immediate end to violence in Burma”.
“The statement (from Asean) does not include what civilians are asking for: respect for fundamental human rights, democracy and peace,” criticized the AAPP.
State-controlled national television called the AAP an “illegal organization” on Monday evening, adding that action would be taken against it.
Former US President Barack Obama on Monday urged Burma’s neighboring countries to “recognize that a murderous regime rejected by the people will only bring greater instability, a humanitarian crisis and the risk of a failed state.” .
The US, EU and UK have sanctioned the junta and its affiliates. But Russia and China, allies of the generals, blocked all other measures, such as an arms embargo.
Moscow is following the situation in Burma “with great attention”, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “Nevertheless, Russia has long-standing relations with Burma, and we are keen on it,” he added, saying the country “must solve its problems itself”.