Myanmar coup: Detained Aung San Suu Kyi faces charges

Myanmar’s detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been charged under the country’s import and export law, a senior official from her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), said on Wednesday.

The charge provides the legal framework for her being taken into custody two days ago – along with other top members of the civilian government – after the military took control of the country.

Suu Kyi, 75, has been charged with illegally importing 10 walkie-talkies.

The soldiers found them at her home during early morning raids on Monday.

It remains unclear where she is being held.

The United Nations (UN) late on Wednesday said it still had not received direct update on her or the other detainees’ circumstances, with a spokesperson adding that the organisation was very concerned about their well-being.

Ousted president Win Myint, meanwhile, has been charged under the country’s Natural Disaster Management Law for breaching Covid-19 restrictions last year, the NLD’s Kyi Toe wrote on social media.

The charges against both politicians carry a maximum sentence of three years.

The coup prompted condemnation from the Group of Seven nations, which called in a joint statement on the military to return the country to the rule of law.

“We are deeply concerned by the detention of political leaders and civil society activists, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, and targeting of the media,” the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, the U.S., and the high representative of the European Union, said in a statement

“We call upon the military to immediately end the state of emergency, restore power to the democratically-elected government, to release all those unjustly detained and to respect human rights and the rule of law,” they added.

Mratt Kyaw Thu, a journalist from Myanmar, shared copies of police documents that gave details of the charges.

According to the documents, Suu Kyi has been remanded into custody until February 15 as an investigation continues.

Win Myint breached ministry of health rules during an election campaign event last year, the police document alleged, adding that he and his family members greeted supporters outside his residence.

Human rights advocates slammed the charges as preposterous and politically motivated.

“This is an absurd move by the junta to try to legitimise their illegal power grab from Myanmar’s democratically-elected government,” said Charles Santiago, a Malaysian lawmaker and chair of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights.

“This does nothing except rub further salt into the wounds of the millions who voted for the NLD in November,” he added.

Suu Kyi was detained in the capital Naypyitaw along with deposed president Win Myint and other members of the government on Monday.

The military justified seizing power by alleging widespread voter fraud during the general election in November, though they did not provide any direct evidence.

That election saw a landslide win for Suu Kyi’s NLD, a party that is of the most influential forces in Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement.

After taking power, the military then declared a state of emergency, handing over control of the country to commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing and announcing his new cabinet members late Monday.

The military promised elections in a year’s time, but analysts see that as unlikely.

On Tuesday, the army unveiled its new cabinet, consisting of generals, former high-ranking soldiers and politicians from a military-backed party.

Myanmar spent almost five decades under military rule before beginning a political transition in 2010 that saw many political prisoners freed and ushered in partial civilian rule.

Suu Kyi, who spent 15 years under house arrest and is a Nobel Peace laureate, was among those freed.

She came to power in the country’s freest election in decades in 2015 amid a wave of intense optimism sparking widespread hopes for a new democratic era.

She was barred from becoming president under a widely opposed 2008 constitution written by the military, but had been serving as state counsellor, a role akin to prime minister created to help her lead through a puppet president. (dpa/NAN)