Detained Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi said her ousted party would "exist as long as the people exist" during her first in-person court appearance since a February coup, her lawyer told AFP yesterday.

Since the February 1 putsch, Myanmar has been in uproar with near-daily protests and a nationwide civil disobedience movement, with more than 800 killed by the military, according to a local monitoring group.

"We met with Amay Suu for 30 minutes," lawyer Min Min Soe told AFP.

"There wasn't much time to talk within 30 minutes, but she sounded healthy and fully confident."

"She wishes her people to stay healthy and affirmed the NLD (National League for Democracy) will exist as long as people exist, because it was founded for the people," Min Min Soe added.

Nobel laureate Suu Kyi has been hit with a string of criminal charges including flouting coronavirus restrictions during last year's election campaign and possessing unlicensed walkie-talkies.

Myanmar's junta has also threatened to dissolve her National League for Democracy political party, which swept elections in 2020, over alleged voter fraud.

She had not been seen in public since she was placed under house arrest by the junta, with weeks of delays to her legal case and her lawyers struggling to gain access to their client.

There was a heavy security presence in the capital Naypyidaw, an AFP correspondent said, with the road to the specially-constructed courthouse blocked off by trucks of police.

Suu Kyi had faced weeks of delays to her legal case and her lawyers had struggled to gain access to their client.

The next hearing was set for June 7, Min Min Soe said, adding she had also met with former president Win Myint, who was ousted and detained along with Suu Kyi.

Meanwhile, an American journalist working for a Myanmar-based news outlet was detained by authorities as he attempted to board a flight to Malaysia yesterday, his employers said.

Danny Fenster, the managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, "was detained at Yangon International Airport this morning," the publication said on its verified Twitter account, adding it did not know the reason for his detention.

'EVERYTHING SHE CAN'

Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing gave a two-hour interview to Hong Kong's Phoenix Television last week, with the full programme yet to air, though portions have been released.

Asked about Suu Kyi's political achievements, the military leader said: "In short, she has done everything she can."

A group of ousted lawmakers -- many of them previously part of the NLD -- have formed a shadow "National Unity Government" in an attempt to undermine the junta.

The military has declared the group would be classified as "terrorists".

In a separate interview excerpt, Min Aung Hlaing disputed the death toll from anti-coup protests and said the junta was not ready to adopt a consensus brokered by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to halt violence.

The continuing violence has pushed some in the anti-junta movement to form a so-called "People's Defence Force" (PDF) in their own townships -- made up of civilians who fight back against security forces with homemade weapons.

Sunday saw heavy fighting between junta forces and the Karenni National Progressive Party -- an ethnic armed group with a stronghold in Kayah state on Myanmar's eastern fringe.

The military used tanks, mortars and helicopters in fighting which continued into Sunday night, according to a senior KNPP leader.

Four people taking refuge in a church were killed in army shelling, according to media and a spokesperson for a local group coordinating evacuations from the area.