Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday voiced defiance as she made her first court appearance since being detained in a coup, vowing her ousted political party would live on.
Myanmar has been in uproar since the February 1 putsch, with near-daily protests and a nationwide civil disobedience movement. More than 800 people have been killed by the military, according to a local monitoring group.
The junta has threatened to dissolve her National League for Democracy — which swept elections in 2020 — over alleged voter fraud.
The Nobel laureate — who has not been seen in public since the coup — sounded “healthy and fully confident” during the 30-minute meeting, her lawyer Min Min Soe said.
“She wishes her people to stay healthy as well as affirmed the NLD will exist as long as people exist because it was founded for people.”
Ms. Suu Kyi has been hit with a string of criminal charges including flouting coronavirus restrictions during last year’s election campaign and possessing unlicensed walkie-talkies.
There have been weeks of delays to Ms. Suu Kyi’s legal case and her lawyers have struggled to gain access to her.
The next hearing was set for June 7, Mr. Min Min Soe said, adding she had also met with former President Win Myint, who was ousted and detained along with Ms. Suu Kyi.
As the lawyers left the compound in Naypyidaw, police arrested a legal representative of senior NLD figure Myo Aung, lawyers said.
There was a heavy security presence in the capital, an AFP correspondent said.
