“It’s hard to think of figure in modern history who’s public perception has fallen so sharply,” said Murray Hiebert, a senior associate of the Southeast Asia Programme at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington and former senior director for Southeast Asia at the US Chamber of Commerce.

Filed in November by the small Muslim-majority African nation of Gambia, the case argues Myanmar is in violation of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide after security forces engaged in widespread “clearance operations” in Rohingya villages that began in earnest in August 2017. Myanmar has been a member of the convention since 1956.

Since then, international organisations have withdrawn a number of accolades from Suu Kyi including the US Holocaust Museum’s Elie Weisel award and Edinburgh’s Freedom of the City award. The latest came in November when Amnesty International withdrew its most prestigious human rights award, calling out Suu Kyi by saying, “you no longer represent a symbol of hope, courage, and the undying defence of human rights”.

On Sunday, Suu Kyi was photographed departing for the UN’s top court, smiling with a delegation as it left the airport in Myanmar’s capital of Naypyidaw.

Mahathir blasts Myanmar and UN over Rohingya ‘genocide’

“For clarity, the Lady is not the one who committed the alleged crimes,” Myo Nyunt, spokesman of the National League for Democracy, said in a phone interview, referring to Suu Kyi’s popular name. “She didn’t keep silent on this. We do believe in her sincerity about the truth, and she has taken the crucial responsibility to defend her country, which is admirable.”

Military spokesman Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun, did not respond to multiple phone calls seeking comment.

Suu Kyi still enjoys wide support from the Bamar, or ethnic Burmese, who make up a majority of Myanmar’s 54 million population. On Saturday, thousands of supporters holding placards that read “we stand with our leader” took to the streets of Naypyidaw in defence of the woman they say is protecting Myanmar’s national interest.

“Our only hope is to encourage the Myanmar people’s love for the country,” Htin Lin Oo, one of the event’s organisers, said on Friday. “We aim to give some strength for the Lady who will face the trial on behalf of our country.”

US bans Myanmar military chief over Rohingya ‘ethnic cleansing’

With elections expected in the second half of next year, experts say the case will hardly impact support for Suu Kyi as the country grapples with bread and butter issues like expanding an economy that suffered under decades of isolationist rule.

“What’s important to remember is that the vast majority of people in Myanmar do not believe that thousands of Rohingya civilians were killed or even that 700,000 or more were forced to flee to Bangladesh,” said historian Thant Myint-U, author of the book The Hidden History of Burma. “In Myanmar, until the ICJ case came up, the Rohingya issue was far down the list of political priorities.”

Suu Kyi defends jailing of journalists who exposed Rakhine massacre

While he said the trial “will only catalyse ethno-nationalist feelings” feelings at home, observers including the United Nations note the Burmese do not associate the democratically elected government with crimes carried out by a military. The army has denied Suu Kyi the right to assume the presidency, while also maintaining a stronghold on parliament with a mandatory 25 per cent of all seats and automatic veto rights.

“Aung San Suu Kyi may think she is serving the national interests by going to The Hague, but if all she does is deny or defend the military’s actions, the only interest she will be serving is theirs,” said Nicholas Bequelin, East and Southeast Asia Director for Amnesty International. “She should be standing side by side with victims and survivors in the pursuit of truth and accountability.”