03 FEBRUARY 2021/20 JUMAADAL UKHRAA 1442
Police in Myanmar have filed several charges against the elected civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi following Monday’s military coup.
She has been remanded in custody until 15 February 2021. The charges include breaching import and export laws, and possession of unlawful communication devices. Her whereabouts are still unclear, but it has been reported that she is being held at her residence in the capital. Deposed President Win Myint has also been charged – in his case with violating rules banning gatherings during the Covid pandemic. He has also been remanded in custody for two weeks. Neither the president nor Ms Suu Kyi have been heard from since the military seized power in the early hours of 1 February.
The coup, led by armed forces chief Min Aung Hlaing, has seen the installation of an 11-member junta which is ruling under a year-long state of emergency. The military sought to justify its action by alleging fraud in last November’s elections, which Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won decisively. The accusations are contained in a police document – called a First Initial Report – submitted to a court.
It alleges that Ms Suu Kyi illegally imported and used communications equipment – walkie-talkies – found at her home in Nay Pyi Taw.
Many hospital medics have either stopped working or are continuing but wearing symbols of defiance in simmering anger over the suppression of Myanmar’s short-lived democracy. But there have been few signs of major protest. Myanmar has been mainly calm following the coup, with troops on patrol and a night-time curfew in force.
Adapted from Original Source: AlJazeera
