<p>Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi will not call any defence witnesses at her incitement trial in a junta court, her lawyer said Tuesday, as the military hit a detained US journalist with another criminal charge.</p>.<p>Suu Kyi went on trial in June, four months after she was taken into custody in a coup that sparked huge democracy protests.</p>.<p>The 76-year-old faces a raft of charges, from sedition to illegally importing walkie-talkies, which could see her jailed for decades.</p>.<p>Suu Kyi and former president Win Myint "would show no witness" in their defence, her lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said after the latest hearing in their trial for incitement.</p>.<p>Suu Kyi was scheduled to testify in the trial on October 26, he added.</p>.<p>Under house arrest since the coup, the Nobel laureate's only link to the outside world has been through pre-hearing meetings with her lawyers.</p>.<p>The junta has threatened to dissolve her National League for Democracy party and continues to wage a bloody campaign against opponents to its rule.</p>.<p>Richard Horsey of the International Crisis group said Suu Kyi "must have been concerned for the safety of anyone she would call as a defence witness."</p>.<p>In a separate junta trial, an American journalist imprisoned since May has been hit with a second criminal charge, his lawyer told AFP.</p>.<p>Danny Fenster, managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, was detained at Yangon International Airport as he attempted to leave the country.</p>.<p>He is currently on trial for allegedly encouraging dissent against the military, which carries a maximum three-year jail sentence.</p>.<p>During the latest hearing at Insein prison in Yangon on Monday, he was hit with another charge of unlawful association, his lawyer Than Zaw Aung said.</p>.<p>Conviction under the colonial-era law also carries a maximum sentence of three years in jail.</p>.<p>It has previously been used to target journalists contacting Myanmar's myriad ethnic armed groups fighting the state for increased autonomy and control over natural resources.</p>.<p>Charging Fenster while in pre-trial detention "shows... what little faith we should have that these charges are genuine," said Manny Maung, Myanmar researcher at Human Rights Watch.</p>.<p>The second trial is expected to start on October 15, Than Zaw Aung said.</p>.<p>His client was "in good health, but he lost weight a little bit", he added.</p>.<p>Fenster, 37, had been working for Frontier for around a year and was heading home to see his family when he was detained on May 24.</p>.<p>He is believed to have contracted Covid-19 during his detention, family members said during a conference call with American journalists in August.</p>.<p>More than 1,100 people have been killed and over 8,700 arrested since the coup, according to a local monitoring group.</p>.<p>The press has been squeezed as the junta tries to tighten control over the flow of information, throttling internet access and revoking the licences of local media outlets.</p>.<p>More than 100 journalists have been arrested since the putsch, according to Reporting ASEAN, a monitoring group.</p>.<p>It says 48 are still in detention.</p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>
<p>Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi will not call any defence witnesses at her incitement trial in a junta court, her lawyer said Tuesday, as the military hit a detained US journalist with another criminal charge.</p>.<p>Suu Kyi went on trial in June, four months after she was taken into custody in a coup that sparked huge democracy protests.</p>.<p>The 76-year-old faces a raft of charges, from sedition to illegally importing walkie-talkies, which could see her jailed for decades.</p>.<p>Suu Kyi and former president Win Myint "would show no witness" in their defence, her lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said after the latest hearing in their trial for incitement.</p>.<p>Suu Kyi was scheduled to testify in the trial on October 26, he added.</p>.<p>Under house arrest since the coup, the Nobel laureate's only link to the outside world has been through pre-hearing meetings with her lawyers.</p>.<p>The junta has threatened to dissolve her National League for Democracy party and continues to wage a bloody campaign against opponents to its rule.</p>.<p>Richard Horsey of the International Crisis group said Suu Kyi "must have been concerned for the safety of anyone she would call as a defence witness."</p>.<p>In a separate junta trial, an American journalist imprisoned since May has been hit with a second criminal charge, his lawyer told AFP.</p>.<p>Danny Fenster, managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, was detained at Yangon International Airport as he attempted to leave the country.</p>.<p>He is currently on trial for allegedly encouraging dissent against the military, which carries a maximum three-year jail sentence.</p>.<p>During the latest hearing at Insein prison in Yangon on Monday, he was hit with another charge of unlawful association, his lawyer Than Zaw Aung said.</p>.<p>Conviction under the colonial-era law also carries a maximum sentence of three years in jail.</p>.<p>It has previously been used to target journalists contacting Myanmar's myriad ethnic armed groups fighting the state for increased autonomy and control over natural resources.</p>.<p>Charging Fenster while in pre-trial detention "shows... what little faith we should have that these charges are genuine," said Manny Maung, Myanmar researcher at Human Rights Watch.</p>.<p>The second trial is expected to start on October 15, Than Zaw Aung said.</p>.<p>His client was "in good health, but he lost weight a little bit", he added.</p>.<p>Fenster, 37, had been working for Frontier for around a year and was heading home to see his family when he was detained on May 24.</p>.<p>He is believed to have contracted Covid-19 during his detention, family members said during a conference call with American journalists in August.</p>.<p>More than 1,100 people have been killed and over 8,700 arrested since the coup, according to a local monitoring group.</p>.<p>The press has been squeezed as the junta tries to tighten control over the flow of information, throttling internet access and revoking the licences of local media outlets.</p>.<p>More than 100 journalists have been arrested since the putsch, according to Reporting ASEAN, a monitoring group.</p>.<p>It says 48 are still in detention.</p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>