WEB DESK
Myanmar’s detained government leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, asked a court on Monday to be allowed to meet her lawyers in person as she appeared at a hearing via video link to face charges brought by the military junta that could see her jailed for years. As the champion of decades of struggle against military rule appeared for the hearing, her supporters called for people to show their opposition to a Feb. 1 coup during this week’s traditional new year holiday in the largely Buddhist country.
Suu Kyi, 75, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her efforts to bring democracy to Myanmar, has been detained since the coup and charges with various offences including violating a colonial-era official secrets act that could see her jailed for 14 years. She has only been allowed to talk with her lawyers via video link in the presence of security officials and it is not known if she is even aware of the bloody turmoil that has engulfed the country since the military seized power.
The coup has plunged Myanmar into crisis after 10 years of tentative steps towards democracy as the military stepped back from politics and allowed Suu Kyi to form a government after her party swept a 2015 election. The military says it had to overthrow her government because a November election again won by her party was rigged. The election commission dismissed the accusation. The coup has triggered relentless protests by those who cannot abide military rule and unyielding suppression by the generals who think only they can save the country from disintegration.