First time since coup: Suu Kyi seen in court

BANGKOK: Myanmar’s ousted leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, appeared in court in person on Monday for the first time since the military arrested her when it seized power on February 1.

One of her lawyers, Min Min Soe, told The Associated Press by phone that Suu Kyi was able to meet with her defence team for about 30 minutes before the hearing began at a special court set up inside the city council building in Naypyitaw, the country’s capital.

The lawyers also met with Win Myint, who was president of the government Suu Kyi led as state counsellor and faces some of the same charges.

Suu Kyi’s only previous court appearances have been by video link and she had not been allowed to meet in person with any of her lawyers. Min Min Soe said Suu Kyi wanted to tell Myanmar’s people that her National League for Democracy (NLD) party will stand by them.

Khin Maung Zaw, head of Suu Kyi’s legal team, said “she seems fit and alert and smart, as always”. Monday’s hearing concerned several of the six charges Suu Kyi faces and was largely procedural. Suu Kyi’s supporters say the proceedings are politically motivated and are meant to discredit her and legitimise the military’s seizure of power.

Meanwhile, the junta leader Min Aung Hlaing cast doubt on the return of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslim refugees who fled to Bangladesh in comments made in his first interview since taking power in a February 1 coup.

Min Aung Hlaing was asked by Chinese-language Phoenix television whether the Muslims could be allowed back to Rakhine State - from where most fled an army crackdown in 2017 that UN investigators said had “genocidal intent”. “If it doesn’t comply with Myanmar’s laws, what else is there to consider? I don’t believe there is any country in the world that would go beyond their own country’s refugee laws to accept refugees,” Min Aung Hlaing responded, according to a transcript of the interview.