Suu Kyi requests less court time over ‘strained health’

YANGON: Myanmar’s detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday asked a judge to reduce the frequency of her court hearings due to strained health, her lawyer said.

Ms Suu Kyi, who is on trial and attending court sessions in multiple cases, requested they each be heard every two weeks, not every week, chief lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said by text message. He did not specify how Ms Suu Kyi’s health was impacted.

The health of Myanmar’s former leader is not concerning and she is not suffering from disease or any specific sickness, but is dealing with tiredness from court appearances, her lawyer said yesterday.

“She is tired. At her age, it is not convenient to sit for hearings every day of the whole week. She doesn’t have any disease nor specified sickness. It is not a concerning situation. She is just tired,” lawyer Khin Maung Zaw told Reuters by phone.

In other news, Myanmar’s failure to cooperate with a special envoy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) will make it difficult to have the country’s junta leader attend an upcoming summit of the group, Malaysia’s foreign minister said yesterday.

Saifuddin Abdullah in a tweet said he expressed disappointment at a meeting of his Asean counterparts over the non-cooperation of Myanmar’s ruling military council.

Myanmar’s top general in April committed to a five-step peace roadmap following its Feb 1 coup.