Myanmar’s Suu Kyi has ‘no comment’: lawyer

Toppled Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has "no comment" on a declaration of war against the junta by a shadow government dominated by lawmakers from her party, her lawyer said yesterday.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military ousted Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy government in a February coup, sparking huge democracy protests which have triggered a bloody crackdown from the junta.

NLD lawmakers make up the majority of a "National Unity Government" which is working to overturn the military regime and declared a "people's defensive war" earlier this month urging citizens to attack junta assets.

Following the declaration, clashes between local "people's defence forces" and the military have increased, and over a dozen army-owned communications towers have been attacked, according to anti-junta groups.

Suu Kyi had "no comment" when asked by her lawyers about the NUG's declaration of war, her lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said, and would comment only after discussions with others in the NLD leadership.

"She said she never turns against the wishes of the people," he added.

Suu Kyi, 76, appeared at a special court in the capital Naypyidaw yesterday for the latest hearing over allegedly importing walkie-talkies illegally and flouting coronavirus restrictions during elections last year that her party won by a landslide.