Deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in a junta court again Tuesday on trial for sedition and for flouting COVID restrictions during an election her ousted party won in a landslide.
A mass uprising in Myanmar against a February military putsch has been met with a brutal crackdown that has killed more than 870 civilians, according to a local monitoring group.
Under house arrest and invisible apart from a handful of court appearances, Suu Kyi has been hit with an eclectic raft of charges, including accepting illegal payments of gold and violating a colonial-era secrecy law.
On Tuesday, the court heard testimony she violated COVID-19 restrictions during elections last year that her National League for Democracy (NLD) party won in a landslide, her lawyer The Maung Maung told reporters.
The special court in Naypyidaw also heard testimony on separate sedition charges.
Journalists were barred from the proceedings.
Su Kyi appeared in good health, The Maung Maung said.
Brief meetings with her legal team have been the only channel to the outside world for Suu Kyi – who remains widely popular in Myanmar – since she was detained in February.
Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing justified his power grab by citing alleged electoral fraud in the November poll and has threatened to dissolve the NLD.
Suu Kyi's lawyers have said they expect the trial to wrap up by 26 July.
The other charges against her include claims that she accepted illegal payments of gold and violated a colonial-era secrecy law.
The hearing came as soldiers battled an anti-junta civilian militia with small arms and grenades in the city of Mandalay on Tuesday, with at least four protesters and two security personnel killed, authorities said.
Fighting has flared across Myanmar since the February coup as people form "defence forces" to battle a brutal military crackdown on dissent, but previous clashes have largely been restricted to rural areas.
Junta Leader Thanks Russia
Myanmar's junta chief on Tuesday thanked Russia, a major weapons supplier to the troubled Southeast Asian country, for strengthening the army which seized power in a coup earlier this year.
Russia has backed its ally and warned the West against sanctioning the junta.
"Thanks to Russia, our army has become one of the strongest in the region," Russian news agency TASS cited Min Aung Hlaing as telling Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu during a meeting in Moscow.
The friendship between Russia and Myanmar is becoming "stronger and stronger", the junta leader said, according to his comments translated into Russian.
"Myanmar for us is a time-tested strategic partner and reliable ally," Shoigu said, adding that military cooperation is an "important component" of Russia-Myanmar relations.
"We are committed to continue making efforts to strengthen bilateral ties," the Russian defence minister said.
Min Aung Hlaing is in Moscow for a three-day international security conference which kicked off Tuesday and brings together defence officials from across the globe.
It is the junta chief's second known trip abroad since he seized power.
On Monday, he met with Russian Security Council chief Nikolai Patrushev, with the two agreeing to improve ties between their two countries.
Min Aung Hlaing then met the head of state arms exporter Rosoboronexport, Alexander Mikheyev, to discuss "potential military technical cooperation," a junta spokesperson said.
Since February, the junta's brutal crackdown on dissent has left at least 870 civilians dead, according to a local monitoring group.
Although the Kremlin has said it was "concerned" by the civilian casualties, Moscow has sought to develop ties with the junta.
In March, a Russian deputy defence minister joined an annual parade showcasing Myanmar's military prowess, including Russian-made jets, tanks and helicopters. – AFP