Myanmar’s detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi told a Naypyitaw judge on Tuesday that her defence team will not summon any witnesses in her incitement case, a move that comes amid concerns that anyone who testifies in her favour will be targeted by the military.
Suu Kyi has been charged under Section 505b of the Penal Code, along with ousted President Win Myint and ousted Naypyitaw mayor Myo Aung, in relation to two statements released by the National League for Democracy (NLD) after the February coup denouncing the junta.
All three are being represented by the same five-member legal team and have argued that the statements are not enough to justify a conviction under Section 5050b.
“We’re not going to submit the defence witness list anymore and the defendants are going to be heard separately,” Khin Maung Zaw, the leader of the defence team, said on Tuesday.
He did not give a specific reason for the decision, but last month he told Myanmar Now the defence team was having difficulties finding people willing to take the stand. “No one will serve as her witness in the case because they will then be targeted,” he said.
Judge Maung Maung Lwin had told the defendants to submit a list of witnesses at the special court in Naypyitaw’s Zabuthiri Township, but Suu Kyi and her co-defendants told him at the hearing on Tuesday that they would not do so and would testify themselves.
Maung Maung Lwin is expected to hear testimony from Win Myint on October 12, from Suu Kyi on October 26, and from Myo Aung on November 2, said Khin Maung Zaw.
Suu Kyi has asked the judge to hold hearings every two weeks, rather than every week, on the grounds that frequent travel to court is taking a toll on her health. Last month she missed a hearing after becoming ill in the car on the way to court, her lawyers said.
The judge will decide whether or not to grant the request at the next hearing on October 12.
