Bnagkok: Human Rights Watch warned on Thursday that military authorities in Myanmar are harassing and even imprisoning lawyers who represent political detainees in junta-run courts, and warned that intimidation was forcing many to stop accepting cases.
The junta has arrested tens of thousands in a broad and bloody crackdown on dissent since it seized control more than two years ago and shook the nation.
Rights organisations claim that the military has used the legal system to silence critics, including democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and former president Win Myint, who were sentenced to lengthy prison terms by secret courts.
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In a report based on interviews, HRW stated that defence attorneys working in "special courts" established by the junta to try political crimes encounter harassment, intimidation, and threats from authorities.
One lawyer from Yangon told the watchdog, "In the courtroom, I now have to worry more about not getting myself detained rather than speaking the truth. Everyone on the court is familiar with me... Anytime, for any reason they choose, the junta has the right to imprison me.
Ywet Nu Aung, an attorney who was representing a former chief minister and member of Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), was reportedly detained as she left a hearing. HRW cited this case.
She was found guilty of aiding in the financing of anti-junta militias and given a 15-year prison term with hard labour.
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According to HRW, lawyers are frequently prohibited from speaking privately with clients before hearings, and in a system that is already overburdened, some have taken on hundreds of cases.
Another attorney told HRW that cross-examination occasionally doesn't even take place.
"We never get to have a defendant released on bail," the prosecutor said. "It's almost impossible to challenge what they (the prosecution) present as evidence." All 19 lawyers disclosed to HRW that they had been subjected to "intimidation and surveillance by junta authorities."
Few have been willing to expose themselves to additional monitoring and intimidation, and many have stopped accepting cases, according to HRW. Since the coup in February 2021, the junta has detained more than 23,000 people, according to a local monitoring organisation.
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A former NLD lawmaker and a well-known activist were both put to death last year after being accused of "terrorism" by a junta-run court, marking Myanmar's first execution in decades.