Tomorrow Will Be Held, Lawyer Call Aung San Suu Kyi Healthy

Aung San Suu Kyi. (Wikimedia Commons/C George)

JAKARTA - Reportedly not seen and heard from for a long time, Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi is said to be in good health. This news was conveyed by one of his lawyers provided by her National League for Democracy (NLD) Party.

Since being detained when the Myanmar military regime launched an uprising on February 1, it is not known where Suu Kyi was detained. Since then she hasn't seen anyone, including her lawyer in person.

Min Min Soe, one of Suu Kyi's lawyers managed to make video communication with Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday 31 March. She said the Nobel Peace Prize laureate wanted to meet with lawyers in person and did not agree to have extensive video discussions in front of the police.

"Amay (Aung San Suu Kyi) looks healthy, has good skin", Min Min Soe said, according to Reuters. Amay is a term in Myanmar that means 'Mother'.

"Only the legal cases against her since the coup was discussed during the video conference", continued the lawyer.

Aung San Suu Kyi is currently facing several accusations from the Myanmar military regime. Most recently, she is said to have received bribes of more than 550 thousand United States dollars or around 704.79 million kyats or IDR 7.9 billion from a local developer named U Maung Waik, the owner of Say Paing Company.

Suu Kyi was also accused of accepting a bribe of USD 600,000 thousand US and more than 11.43 kg of gold from the Chief Minister of Yangon Region U Phyo Min Thein who was detained between December 2017 and March 2018.

Apart from the corruption charges, Aung San Suu Kyi has also been faced with four charges from the Myanmar military regime since the last February 1 coup. Starting from incitement, import violations, and the use of walkie-talkies without permission, to violating the restrictions on COVID-19 which made her face the threat of 9 years in prison.

The plan, Aung San Suu Kyi will return to trial on Thursday 1 April. The inaugural trial was held on February 16 and the second trial on March 1. Meanwhile, the third trial on March 15 and the fourth trial on March 24 were postponed, because internet access in Myanmar was cut off.

To note, at least 521 civilians have died in the protests, 141 of them on Saturday, the bloodiest day of the riots, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).

Myanmar Coup. The VOI editorial team continues to monitor the political situation in one of the ASEAN member countries. Casualties from civilians continue to fall. Readers can follow the news surrounding the Myanmar military coup by tapping on this link.