Jailed Australian economist testifies in secretive Myanmar trial

Sean Turnell testified as his closed-door trial in Naypyidaw which began on Thursday [File: Myanmar News Agency via AFP]

An Australian academic and economic adviser to Myanmar’s elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was detained after the military seized power last year, has testified in a military court for the first time.

Sean Turnell, an economist at Macquarie University in Sydney, is being tried with Aung San Suu Kyi on charges of breaking the country’s official secrets act.