First Trial Against Ousted Myanmar Leader Suu Kyi Starts

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Suu Kyi spent more than 15 years under house arrest during the previous junta's rule before her 2010 release.

Her international stature diminished following a wave of military violence targeting Buddhist-majority Myanmar's marginalized Muslim Rohingya community, but the coup has returned Suu Kyi to the role of cloistered democracy icon.

On Thursday, she was hit with additional corruption charges of illegally accepting $600,000 in cash and around 11 kilos of gold.

Her lawyer Khin Maung Zaw dismissed the new charges -- which could see Suu Kyi hit with another lengthy prison term -- as "absurd".

Also read: ASEAN Condemns the Deteriorating Situation in Myanmar

"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.

"That's one of the reasons to charge her -- to keep her out of the scene."

Myanmar has plunged into a "human rights catastrophe" since the coup, the UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet said Friday, adding that the military leadership was "singularly responsible" for the crisis.

Bachelet also slammed the sweeping arrests in the country of activists, journalists, and opponents of the regime, citing credible sources saying at least 4,804 people remain in arbitrary detention.

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.

The junta has previously said it would hold fresh elections within two years but has also threatened to dissolve the NLD.