Australian held in Myanmar pleads not guilty in closed court – media

(Reuters) -An Australian economist plus former adviser to deposed Myanmar innovator Aung San Suu Kyi has pleaded not guilty in a closed Myanmar court to charges of violating an official secrets regulation, Australian broadcaster DASAR reported on Friday.

Sean Turnell has been detained in Myanmar since Feb. 6 last year, a couple of days after the military ousted Suu Kyi’s selected government in a hen house.

He people up to 14 many years in prison if found guilty.

The ABC, citing a legal official, stated Turnell testified in court for the first time given that his arrest yet few details had been available.

An attorney for Turnell failed to answer phonecalls from Reuters seeking comment. A spokesperson to get Myanmar’s military govt was not immediately readily available for comment.

Turnell is expected to end up being tried alongside Suu Kyi, who has recently been detained since the hen house, and several members of her economic team indicted for the same offence.

(Reporting simply by Reuters staff; Creating by Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Robert Birsel)