A Naypyitaw court on Monday postponed another two verdicts that were due to be handed down to detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi after months of hearings, with the rulings expected on Monday of next week, court sources told Myanmar Now.
Judge Maung Maung Lwin was due to deliver the verdicts to the ousted State Counsellor relating to the charges of possessing illegally imported walkie-talkies. She was charged under the Export and Import Law and the Telecommunications Law and faces up to four years in prison for the offence.
“The judge adjourned the cases [until December 27] without providing any reason,” the court source told Myanmar Now.
At a hearing in early November, prosecution witnesses testifying against Suu Kyi delivered differing testimony concerning where they allegedly found the “illegal” communications devices during a raid on her home on February 1 when the military staged a coup.
Five people testified on behalf of the prosecution at the hearing: a military major, two captains, a sergeant and a police major. Four said the walkie-talkies were found inside Suu Kyi’s Naypyitaw home, but the fifth said they were confiscated from her security team at the gate leading into the residential compound.
Myanmar Now has been unable to verify which of the five officials gave the conflicting testimony, but the claim that the devices were seized from the security team aligns with what was written in documents submitted to the court after her arrest.
However, at a hearing in July, Maj Win Htut Oo, who led the raid on Suu Kyi’s residence, testified that no security personnel were present at the time.
The same judge sentenced both Suu Kyi and ousted President Win Myint to four-year prison sentences in early December on charges of incitement and breaking Covid-19 regulations during last year’s election campaign.
The junta later cut their sentences in half and said that the two leaders would be serving the remaining two years of their sentences at their undisclosed “current place of detention,” contrary to the standard practice of moving prisoners once they have been convicted.
After being convicted on charges of incitement and breaking Covid-19 regulations earlier this month, Suu Kyi is still awaiting decisions on the rest of her 10 total cases, including six concerning alleged corruption.
According to court sources, Suu Kyi came to the hearing last Friday in a prison uniform—a white blouse and brown longyi, which were said to be provided to her by prison authorities. She was not handcuffed, and was reportedly not wearing her normal earrings and watch, but an overcoat as it was cold.
She appeared at the Monday hearing in the same prison uniform and appeared to be in good health, sources said.
The judge also said on Monday that the court would hear the testimony of Mandalay Region’s ousted chief minister, Dr Zaw Myint Maung, under a video conferencing arrangement on Monday next week.
The 70-year-old, who is being detained in Mandalay’s Obo Prison, will testify as the sole defence witness in another charge against Suu Kyi for the alleged violation of public health restrictions by holding gatherings for her National League for Democracy (NLD) party amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The junta barred him from travelling to Naypyitaw to take the stand, citing the pretext that he is in poor health; he has leukemia.
Zaw Myint Maung, who is also vice chair of Suu Kyi’s party, had been called as a witness in the charge filed in April by a Naypyitaw resident and former NLD member named Tun Myint Aung, also known as Nyi Nyi.
Tun Myint Aung accused Suu Kyi of visiting NLD supporters in Shwe Kyar Pin ward in Naypyitaw’s Zabuthiri Township, allegedly in violation of the Covid-19 restrictions in place. Zaw Myint Maung also accompanied Suu Kyi on the trip.
