The third hearing in the case of a trio of detained journalists and three civilians on charges of “unlawful association” was held on Friday, with two of the prosecution’s witnesses failing to appear before the court despite being scheduled to do so.

Three journalists and three other defendants facing charges under Burma’s Unlawful Associations Act were denied bail Friday at their second hearing in Hsipaw Township, Shan State, where the high-profile case continued and the defendants’ detention stretched into its sixth week.

The trial of three journalists and three other men accused of “unlawful association” with an ethnic armed group began in earnest on Friday, with a court in Hsipaw Township, Shan State, taking testimony from the case’s plaintiff, an army major.

A member of the Lower House of Parliament has submitted an urgent proposal to denounce the findings of Yanghee Lee, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma. The proposal was approved for further discussion by Lower House Speaker Win Myint.

UN human rights envoy Yanghee Lee offered stern words for the Burmese government on Friday evening, urging it to reconsider its refusal to issue visas to a UN fact-finding mission tasked with probing alleged human rights abuses in Arakan State and elsewhere in Burma.

The judge apparently has to attend a training workshop on 21 July and is therefore unable to be in court that day.