Trial of Myanmar's Suu Kyi taking toll on her health: lawyer

By AFP
05 October 2021
Trial of Myanmar's Suu Kyi taking toll on her health: lawyer
Photo: AFP

Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi's health has suffered from her frequent appearances before a court run by the military junta that deposed her government, her lawyer said Monday.

Suu Kyi went on trial in June, four months after she was taken into custody in a coup that plunged the country into turmoil.

The 76-year-old faces a raft of charges, from sedition to illegally importing walkie-talkies, which could see her jailed for decades.

She applied for hearings to take place every two weeks instead of weekly "on the grounds of her health," her lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said after her latest court appearance.

After new corruption charges were brought against her last week, the Nobel laureate now must appear most weekdays at a courtroom in Naypyidaw.

The trial had left Suu Kyi feeling "strained", Khin Maung Zaw said, without offering more details.

He added that the judge would make a decision on her request next week.