A court in Myanmar has delayed for one day the verdict in one of nearly a dozen corruption cases against Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s ousted de facto leader.
The court did not give any reason why the verdict against Suu Kyi was postponed. Her trial has been held behind closed doors, and her lawyers are banned from speaking to the press.
The 76-year-old deposed leader could face 15 years in prison if convicted on the charge.
Suu Kyi is charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act, inciting public unrest, misusing land for her charitable foundation, and accepting illegal payments of $600,000 in cash plus 11 kilograms of gold. She has already been convicted of numerous other charges brought against her by the military junta that ousted her and her civilian government on February 1, 2021, including illegally importing and possessing portable two-way radios, violating coronavirus rules, inciting public unrest and violating the Natural Disaster Management Law for breaking COVID-19 restrictions.
She potentially faces 100 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party won the November 2020 general elections in a landslide over the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party. The junta claimed widespread electoral fraud in the elections as its reason for toppling the civilian government and invalidating the results. The civilian electoral commission denied the allegations before it was disbanded.
Suu Kyi, who led the ousted government as state counselor, President Win Myint and other high-ranking officials have been jailed since the coup.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
