Suu Kyi departs for genocide hearings amid fanfare at home

YANGON: Myanmar leader and Nobel peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi (pix) departed yesterday for the UN’s top court in The Hague to defend the country against charges of genocide of its Rohingya minority.

Suu Kyi was pictured smiling as she walked through the airport in the nation’s capital, Naypyitaw, flanked by officials, a day after thousands rallied in the city to support her and a prayer ceremony was held in her name.

Demonstrations are planned throughout the coming week, with hearings set for tomorrow to Thursday, and several dozen supporters are also bound for The Hague, in the Netherlands, to cheer Suu Kyi on.

Gambia, a tiny, mainly Muslim West African country, filed a lawsuit in November accusing Buddhist-majority Myanmar of genocide, the most serious international crime, against its Rohingya minority.

During three days of hearings, it will ask the 16member panel of UN judges at the International Criminal Court of Justice to impose “provisional measures” to protect the Rohingya before the case can be heard in full.

More than 730,000 Rohingya fled Myanmar in 2017 after a brutal military-led crackdown the UN has said was executed with “genocidal intent” and included mass killings and rape.

Despite international condemnation over the campaign, Suu Kyi, whose government has defended the campaign as a legitimate response to attacks by Rohingya militants, remains overwhelmingly popular at home.

On Saturday, thousands rallied in Naypyitaw while senior officials held a prayer ceremony at St Mary’s Cathedral in the former capital of Yangon.

Suu Kyi spent the eve of her departure meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, with both countries pledging stronger ties, according to China’s Foreign Ministry Information department deputy director-general Zhao Lijian

Billboards with her picture and the words “Stand with Suu Kyi” have also been erected around the country.