Myanmar’s Suu Kyi set to face court this week
Detained democracy icon will appear via video link; anti-coup protests continue
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.
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-conferencing,” 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 commercial hub and biggest city.