Myanmar’s Suu Kyi set to face court this week
Detained democracy icon will appear via video link as military tries to quell protests
YANGON: Myanmar’s deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi will appear in court via video conference this week over charges brought against her by the new military junta, her lawyer said on Monday, even as security forces intensified their crackdown against anti-coup protesters.
Soldiers and police pointed guns toward protesters and attacked them with sticks as smaller demonstrations were held in spite of deployment of armoured vehicles and more troops on the streets.
Army chief Gen Min Aung Hlaing has justified the February 1 coup by alleging widespread voter fraud in November’s elections, which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party had swept. Suu Kyi was hit with the unusual charge of violating Myanmar’s import and export law, after a search of her house found walkie-talkies.
President Win Myint - who, like Suu Kyi, was detained in a dawn raid on February 1 - was charged with violating coronavirus restrictions when he took part in a campaign event last September that drew hundreds.
Both are expected to be questioned on Tuesday and Wednesday, said lawyer Khin Maung Zaw outside a court in Naypyidaw, Myanmar’s capital, after a meeting with a judge. “When they are brought to the court on both February 16 and 17, they will be questioned via video-concial
ferencing,” he said. Neither has been publicly seen since the coup, though Suu Kyi’s party has heard that she is “in good health”. Their detention period was set to end on Wednesday, said the lawyer - though it was likely to be extended.
On Monday, More than 1,000 protesters rallied in front of the Myanmar Economic Bank in Mandalay, the country’s secondlargest city. At least 10 trucks full of soldiers and police arrived and started firing slingshots toward the protesters before they even got out of the trucks, according witnesses.
The soldiers and police then attacked the protesters with sticks and slingshots, and police could be seen aiming long guns into the air amid sounds that resembled gunfire.
An hours-long internet shutdown was imposed on Monday. Military’s presence is up across the country including armoured vehicles in Yangon, the commerhub and biggest city.
The coup and arrest of Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi and hundreds of others have sparked the biggest protests in Myanmar in more than a decade, with hundreds of thousands denouncing the military’s derailment of a tentative transition to democracy. “This is a fight for our future, the future of our country,” youth activist Esther Ze Naw said at a protest in the main city of Yangon.
“We don’t want to live under a military dictatorship. We want to establish a real federal union where all citizens, all ethnicities are treated equally.”
The unrest has revived memories in the Southeast Asian nation of bloody outbreaks of opposition to almost half a century of direct army rule that ended in 2011, when the military began a process of withdrawing from civilian politics.
Violence this time has been limited, although police have opened fire several times to disperse protesters. One woman who was hit by police fire in the capital Naypyitaw last week is not expected to survive.
Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing told a junta meeting on Monday that authorities were trying to proceed softly, but said: “Effective action will be taken against people who are harming the country, committing treason through violence.”
Authorities have said police were also hurt by stones thrown at some protests.
FOOD INFLATION BASED ON THE WPI FOOD INDEX SLID FROM 0.92% IN DECEMBER TO -0.26% IN JANUARY
The rate of inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI) was up from 1.22% in December to 2.03% in January on the back of a sustained rise in the price of manufactured items, negating the weakness in energy prices and some primary food items, official data showed on Monday.
Prices of manufactured items, which make up about 64% of the WPI index, have been accelerating since last June in line with the pick-up in economic activities and demand following the covid-led nationwide lockdown.
Out of the 22 groups of manufactured items, prices rose for 18 groups, including furniture, motor vehicles, machinery and equipment, while the prices fell for only four groups.
In the fuel and power category, crude petroleum, petrol and diesel prices witnessed continued weakness during the month but to a lower extent than in December.
Food price inflation has been cooling since September. While cereal, vegetable, potato and onion prices declined in January, pulses became costlier. Accordingly, food inflation based on the WPI food index slid from 0.92% in December to -0.26% in January.
Data released by the commerce ministry shows that WPI inflation has firmed up in January, while consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation eased to 4.06% in January from 4.59% in December.
The inflation rate of fuel and power stood at -4.8%, remaining in the negative zone for the 11th consecutive month, but recovered from -8.7% seen in December.
Benign crude oil prices have led to sustained deflation over the past one year. The recent uptick in crude oil prices has led to moderation in the negative growth, said Aditi Nayar, principal economist, ICRA Ltd.
Growing demand and strengthening pricing power will make core inflation rise further to 7-7.5% in April-June 2022, she said.
Inflation for manufactured products rose from 4.24% in December, and 0.59% in January 2020 to 5.13% last month, reflecting an improvement in the pricing power of firms.
“Wholesale prices are likely to register an uptick in coming months, with a sustained surge in the manufacturing segment owing to firming up of global metal prices following the opening up of the economy. Additionally, the noticeable jump in crude oil prices recently could also weigh on the overall wholesale inflation,” Madan Sabnavis, chief economist, Care Ratings Ltd, said in an analysis.