The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has begun proceedings to hear Myanmar's preliminary objections to a genocide case brought against it over a brutal 2017 crackdown by the military on the mostly Muslim Rohingya.

The proceedings, which started Monday, have been given added urgency and complicated by the coup that took place in Myanmar a little more than a year ago. Research Fellow, Doctor Maung Zarni is with the Genocidal Documentation Centre, Cambodia. He is a pro-democracy and human rights activist who has spearheaded many international boycotts against Myanmar's military dictatorships.