IN THE WORLD TODAY

Overthrown leader hit with charges

POLICE in Myanmar have charged deposed national leader Aung San Suu Kyi with having several illegally imported walkie-talkies in her home, members of her party said yesterday.

At the same time authorities were working to keep her in detention, hundreds of politicians who had been forced to stay at government housing after the coup were told to leave the capital city within 24 hours and go home, a member of parliament from Suu Kyi’s party said.

The charges against Suu Kyi appear to carry a maximum sentence of two years in prison. The charge sheets indicate the unregistered walkie-talkies were for use by Suu Kyi’s bodyguards.

National League for Democracy (NLD) spokesman Kyi Toe confirmed the charge on his Facebook page. He also said the country’s ousted president, Win Myint, had been charged with violating natural disaster management law.

Suu Kyi had been a fierce critic of the army during her years in detention and her party has called for non-violent resistance to the military takeover. On Tuesday night, scores of people in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, honked car horns and banged on pots and pans in a noise protest called by activists, and many wished Suu Kyi good health and freedom.

Medical workers have also declared they will not work for the new military government in protest at the coup, as the country is battling a rise in Covid-19 cases with an inadequate health system.

The foreign ministers of G7 also issued a statement calling for Suu Kyi and others to be released and for power to be restored to the democratically elected government.