Verdict for deposed leader Aung Sa Suu Kyi postponed by Myanmar court

On Tuesday, a Myanmar court postponed its decision in the trial of overthrown leader Aung San Suu Kyi to allow for the testimony of an extra witness.

According to a legal official, the court consented to a defence request that allowed a doctor who had previously been unable to testify to do so.

The 76-year-old Nobel laureate would receive her first verdict since the army seized control on February 1, detaining her and preventing her National League for Democracy party from seeking re-election.

She also faces trials on a number of other accusations, including corruption, for which she may face a sentence of dozens of years in prison if found guilty.

On charges of incitement and breaking Covid-19 regulations, the court was set to rule on Tuesday.

The judge postponed the trial until December 6, when the new witness, Dr. Zaw Myint Maung, is expected to testify, according to the legal official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the government has restricted the publication of information about the case.

The cases are largely viewed as fabricated in order to undermine Suu Kyi and prevent her from competing in the upcoming election. Anyone who has been convicted to prison is barred from holding high office or becoming a legislator under the constitution.

In the general election last November, her party won by a landslide. Independent election observers found no major abnormalities. The army, whose associated party lost several seats, accused that there was widespread voting fraud.

Suu Kyi remains a popular figure and a symbol of the anti-military fight.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, the army’s takeover was met by national nonviolent protests, which security forces put down with lethal force, killing approximately 1,300 citizens.

Armed opposition has surged in the cities and countryside while nonviolent protest has been severely restricted, prompting UN experts to warn that the country is on the verge of civil war.

Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her nonviolent battle for democracy, has not been seen in public since the military took control of the country. She has appeared in court for a number of her trials, which are closed to the public and the media.

Suu Kyi’s lawyers, who had been the only source of information about the court procedures, were served with gag orders in October, prohibiting them from disclosing any information.