Myanmar junta holds off on Suu Kyi verdict

Bangkok: A Myanmar court on Monday postponed to Dec. 27 the issuing of verdicts in the latest of a series of cases against the country’s ousted leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, a legal official knowledgeable about the case said. The postponed verdict from the court in the capital, Naypyitaw, is for the second among multiple cases brought against the 76-year-old Nobel laureate since the army seized power on Feb. 1, ousting her elected government and arresting top members of her National League for Democracy party.

No reason was given for the postponement, according to a legal official who insisted on anonymity for fear of being punished by the authorities, who have restricted the release of information about Suu Kyi’s trials.

She is accused of importing and possessing walkie-talkies without following official procedures.

The radios that are the focus of the case were seized from the entrance gate of her residence and the barracks of her bodyguards during a search on Feb. 1, the day she was arrested. The charge under the Export-Import Law of having improperly imported the walkies-talkies was the first filed against her and served as the initial justification for her continued detention. The charge of illegally possessing the radios was filed the following month.

uu Kyi’s lawyers argued that the radios were not in her personal possession and were legitimately used to help provide for her security, but the court declined to dismiss the charges against her.

Suu Kyi on Dec. 6 was convicted on two other charges, incitement and breaching COVID-19 restrictions, for which she was sentenced to a total of four year’s imprisonment. The head of the military-installed government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, reduced the sentence by half after it was issued by giving her a partial pardon. —(AP)