<p>The trial of deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi got under way Monday, more than four months after a military coup, with junta witnesses testifying that the Nobel laureate flouted Covid-19 restrictions and illegally imported walkie-talkies.</p>.<p>Near daily protests have rocked Myanmar since the generals' February 1 putsch.</p>.<p>A mass uprising has been met with a brutal military crackdown that has killed more than 850 civilians, according to a local monitoring group.</p>.<p>The junta has brought an eclectic raft of charges against the Nobel laureate, including claims she accepted illegal payments of gold and violated a colonial-era secrecy law.</p>.<p>On Monday the court heard a police force major testify that Suu Kyi broke coronavirus restrictions during last year's elections that her National League for Democracy (NLD) party won in a landslide, her lawyer Min Min Soe told AFP.</p>.<p>Another police major testified on separate charges accusing her of illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies, she added.</p>.<p>Suu Kyi "paid keen attention" throughout the hearing, another member of her legal team, Khin Maung Zaw said in a statement.</p>.<p>Journalists were barred from proceedings in the special court in the capital Naypyidaw, but an AFP reporter said there was a heavy police presence outside.</p>.<p>Suu Kyi's lawyers -- who have struggled to gain access to their client -- have said they expect the trial to wrap up by July 26.</p>.<p>"We are hoping for the best but prepared for the worst," Khin Maung Zaw told AFP ahead of the hearing.</p>.<p>A separate trial is scheduled to start on Tuesday over sedition charges she faces alongside ousted president Win Myint and another senior member of the NLD.</p>.<p>If convicted of all charges, Suu Kyi, 75, faces more than a decade in jail.</p>.<p>"It is a show trial motivated only by political reasons," Debbie Stothard, Coordinator of the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma, told AFP.</p>.<p>"Min Aung Hlaing is determined to lock up Aung San Suu Kyi for the rest of her life. If he could, he would probably charge her under every law available."</p>.<p>Suu Kyi spent more than 15 years under house arrest during the previous junta's rule before her 2010 release.</p>.<p>Her international reputation diminished following her defence of military-led violence against Myanmar's marginalised Muslim Rohingya community.</p>.<p>But the coup has returned Suu Kyi to the role of cloistered democracy icon.</p>.<p>On Thursday, she was hit with additional corruption charges over claims she illegally accepted $600,000 in cash and around 11 kilos of gold.</p>.<p>Her lawyer Khin Maung Zaw dismissed the new charges -- which could see Suu Kyi hit with another lengthy prison term -- as "absurd".</p>.<p>"There is an undeniable political background to keep her out of the scene of the country and to smear her prestige," he told AFP last week.</p>.<p>"That's one of the reasons to charge her -- to keep her out of the scene."</p>.<p>Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing has justified his power grab by citing alleged electoral fraud in the November poll won by Suu Kyi's NLD.</p>.<p>The junta has previously said it would hold fresh elections within two years, but has also threatened to dissolve the NLD.</p>.<p>It has also responded with force to a growing mass movement against its rule -- shooting protesters, targeting journalists and shutting down news outlets.</p>.<p>Monday saw the release of a American journalist detained since March after charges against him were dropped, his lawyer told AFP.</p>.<p>Nathan Maung, who founded the local Kamayut Media outlet, has been detained under a colonial-era law that criminalises encouraging dissent against the military.</p>
<p>The trial of deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi got under way Monday, more than four months after a military coup, with junta witnesses testifying that the Nobel laureate flouted Covid-19 restrictions and illegally imported walkie-talkies.</p>.<p>Near daily protests have rocked Myanmar since the generals' February 1 putsch.</p>.<p>A mass uprising has been met with a brutal military crackdown that has killed more than 850 civilians, according to a local monitoring group.</p>.<p>The junta has brought an eclectic raft of charges against the Nobel laureate, including claims she accepted illegal payments of gold and violated a colonial-era secrecy law.</p>.<p>On Monday the court heard a police force major testify that Suu Kyi broke coronavirus restrictions during last year's elections that her National League for Democracy (NLD) party won in a landslide, her lawyer Min Min Soe told AFP.</p>.<p>Another police major testified on separate charges accusing her of illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies, she added.</p>.<p>Suu Kyi "paid keen attention" throughout the hearing, another member of her legal team, Khin Maung Zaw said in a statement.</p>.<p>Journalists were barred from proceedings in the special court in the capital Naypyidaw, but an AFP reporter said there was a heavy police presence outside.</p>.<p>Suu Kyi's lawyers -- who have struggled to gain access to their client -- have said they expect the trial to wrap up by July 26.</p>.<p>"We are hoping for the best but prepared for the worst," Khin Maung Zaw told AFP ahead of the hearing.</p>.<p>A separate trial is scheduled to start on Tuesday over sedition charges she faces alongside ousted president Win Myint and another senior member of the NLD.</p>.<p>If convicted of all charges, Suu Kyi, 75, faces more than a decade in jail.</p>.<p>"It is a show trial motivated only by political reasons," Debbie Stothard, Coordinator of the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma, told AFP.</p>.<p>"Min Aung Hlaing is determined to lock up Aung San Suu Kyi for the rest of her life. If he could, he would probably charge her under every law available."</p>.<p>Suu Kyi spent more than 15 years under house arrest during the previous junta's rule before her 2010 release.</p>.<p>Her international reputation diminished following her defence of military-led violence against Myanmar's marginalised Muslim Rohingya community.</p>.<p>But the coup has returned Suu Kyi to the role of cloistered democracy icon.</p>.<p>On Thursday, she was hit with additional corruption charges over claims she illegally accepted $600,000 in cash and around 11 kilos of gold.</p>.<p>Her lawyer Khin Maung Zaw dismissed the new charges -- which could see Suu Kyi hit with another lengthy prison term -- as "absurd".</p>.<p>"There is an undeniable political background to keep her out of the scene of the country and to smear her prestige," he told AFP last week.</p>.<p>"That's one of the reasons to charge her -- to keep her out of the scene."</p>.<p>Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing has justified his power grab by citing alleged electoral fraud in the November poll won by Suu Kyi's NLD.</p>.<p>The junta has previously said it would hold fresh elections within two years, but has also threatened to dissolve the NLD.</p>.<p>It has also responded with force to a growing mass movement against its rule -- shooting protesters, targeting journalists and shutting down news outlets.</p>.<p>Monday saw the release of a American journalist detained since March after charges against him were dropped, his lawyer told AFP.</p>.<p>Nathan Maung, who founded the local Kamayut Media outlet, has been detained under a colonial-era law that criminalises encouraging dissent against the military.</p>