Myanmar Junta Hits Aung San Suu Kyi With Two New Charges

Myanmar Junta Hits Aung San Suu Kyi With Two New Charges

The telecommunications charge is believed to be derived from the allegations over walkie-talkies which the military junta claimed were found when they searched her house on Feb. 1.

Myanmar Now
Published on Mar 1, 2021
During nationwide protests over the past weeks, the Myanmar public is calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political leaders detained by the military. (Myanmar Now)
During nationwide protests over the past weeks, the Myanmar public is calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political leaders detained by the military. (Myanmar Now)

Ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi faced two additional charges on Monday during a hearing conducted by videolink a day after the bloodiest crackdown on anti-coup protesters killed at least 18 people across the country.

The hearing took place a month after Suu Kyi was detained during the Feb. 1 power grab that annulled the landslide general election victory of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party last year.

The first of the new charges, bringing the total to four since her arrest, fell under Section 505b of the criminal code, which makes it illegal to issue “any statement, rumour or report” likely to induce members of the public to “commit an offence against the state”. It is punishable by up to two years in prison, a fine, or both.

The second is for an alleged violation of the Telecommunication Law’s Section 67 for possessing or using any restricted communication equipment that requires a license. It carries a maximum one-year prison term. 

The 75-year-old already stands accused of illegally importing walkie-talkies in violation of the Export and Import Law, and of breaching the Natural Disaster Management Law for defying regulations aimed at curbing Covid-19 while campaigning in the election—the same charge filed against detained ally President Win Myint.

The telecommunications charge is believed to be derived from the allegations over walkie-talkies which the military junta claimed were found when they searched her house on Feb. 1.

Deposed President Win Myint was also accused of violating 505b during the Monday hearing, which was not broadcast to the public.

Attorney Min Min Soe, a member of Suu Kyi’s legal team, said she seemed to be in good health as she appeared via video link.

“She said at the hearing that she wanted to meet with her lawyer. The judge told her that he is working on it,” lawyer Min Min Soe told Myanmar Now. 

The lawyer added that they had no access to the hearing for Win Myint and that the video link was closed after Suu Kyi’s brief appearance. Lawyers have not been able to meet with either of them since they were detained in pre-dawn raids at the start of the coup.

The next hearings are scheduled for Mar. 15.  A number of ousted chief ministers in Magway, Rakhine and Mandalay who are also central executive members of the NLD have been charged with 505b, more commonly known as incitement.

It remains unclear how Suu Kyi could have incited members of the public to commit an offense without being able to communicate with the public.

The new charges were announced as Myanmar protesters returned to the streets a day after at least 18 people were killed in a crackdown by security forces in various cities, according to a tally by the United Nations human rights office.

Suu Kyi was taken away from her home in Naypyitaw more than a week ago to an undisclosed location, according to NLD sources.

The military had been keeping Suu Kyi at the house in Zabuthiri township since it detained her and several other top government figures in the Feb. 1 takeover. 

 

 

“We don’t know where she’s being kept anymore,” a senior NLD source said on condition of anonymity. 

Suu Kyi spent a combined 15 years under house arrest until being released in 2010. She won a parliamentary seat in a 2012 by-election before leading the NLD to two overwhelming election victories in 2015 and 2020. 

On Friday the chair of the new military-appointed Union Election Commission, Thein Soe, officially annulled the results of the 2020 poll during a meeting with political parties in Naypyitaw. 

 

 

Myanmar Now

Myanmar Now is an independent news service providing free, accurate and unbiased news to the people of Myanmar in Burmese and English.
KIA attacks police bases in Hpakant

The offensives come in the wake of deadly crackdowns against anti-coup protesters in Myitkyina 

Myanmar Now
Published on Mar 18, 2021
A KIA soldier watches from an outpost in Kachin state in this undated file photo (Kachinwave) 

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) launched attacks against police bases in the jade mining region of Hpakant on Thursday morning, a local resident told Myanmar Now. 

The attacks targeted police battalions where soldiers were stationed near Nam Maw village in the Seik Muu village tract.

“There are Myanmar police battalions around Nam Maw,” a resident said. At least three bases were attacked, he added. 

A 41-year-old civilian in Seik Muu village injured his left hand during the clash, the Kachin-based Myitkyina News Journal reported.

The KIA has launched several offensives against the coup regime’s forces recently. Fighting has also been reported in Mogaung and Injangyang this month. 

Some 200 people fled the Injangyang villages of Gway Htaung and Tan Baung Yan on Monday after the KIA launched an offensive against the military there. 

The offenses began in the wake of deadly crackdowns against anti-coup protesters in Myitkyina. The KIA has warned the junta not to harm anti-coup protesters. 

 

Myanmar Now

Myanmar Now is an independent news service providing free, accurate and unbiased news to the people of Myanmar in Burmese and English.
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Four shot dead, five injured during junta attack on protesters in Kalay on Wednesday 

The coup regime’s forces took the injured people away and locals do not know their whereabouts 

Myanmar Now
Published on Mar 18, 2021
Kalay residents move the body of a man who was shot dead on Wednesday (Supplied) 

Four young men were killed and five people were injured in the town of Kalay in Sagaing region on Wednesday as protesters continued their fight to topple the regime despite daily massacres across the country aimed at terrorizing them into submission. 

The Tahan Protest Group gathered in the town at around 10am and police and soldiers began shooting. One young man was shot dead on the spot as he tried to help people who were trapped amid gunfire, residents told Myanmar Now.   

The regime’s forces also shot at and chased fleeing protesters along roads and through narrow alleys, a resident said.

“The crowd of protesters dispersed but one person was shot dead while trying to rescue those trapped in the protest site,” the resident added. 

As the crowd dispersed, a man riding a motorcycle was shot outside a branch of KBZ Bank. “He also died,” the resident said. 

Despite the murders, protesters gathered again in the afternoon around 4pm. Police and soldiers started shooting again and killed two people. 

“They were shot dead while trying to set up barricades at the protest site. They were shot while trying to obstruct the army’s way as the army troops chased and shot the trapped protestors,” the resident said. 

The two who were killed in the morning were identified as Salai Kyong Lian Kye O, who was 25, and Kyin Khant Man, who was 27 and had three children. The identities of the other two have not yet been confirmed.

Five people were also injured and then taken away. Locals said they did not know where they had been taken.   

 

Myanmar Now

Myanmar Now is an independent news service providing free, accurate and unbiased news to the people of Myanmar in Burmese and English.
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Junta uses corruption allegations to expand legal case against Aung San Suu Kyi 

An ex-convict businessman says that he gave the State Counsellor more than $550,000 in cash when ‘there was no one around.’ 

Myanmar Now
Published on Mar 18, 2021
Maung Weik (first from left) is pictured near State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi at the opening ceremony of a government housing built by his Say Paing Company. (Maung Weik/ Facebook)

The military council announced on March 17 that it would attempt to charge State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained since Myanmar’s February 1 coup, with corruption.

The junta’s move is linked to new allegations against Aung San Suu Kyi by businessman Maung Weik. The owner of the Say Paing construction and development company, Maung Weik was formerly imprisoned on drug charges and is known to have close relationships with members of the military’s inner circle.  

Military-run media aired a recorded statement made by Maung Weik alleging that he had given Aung San Suu Kyi more than US$550,000 in cash-filled envelopes on the four occasions he met her between 2018 and 2020. 

“There was no one around when I gave her the money,” he said in the video statement. 

Under Myanmar’s earlier military regime, Maung Weik maintained ties to several generals, including former intelligence chief Khin Nyunt.

He was sentenced to 15 years in prison on drug charges in 2008, but was released in 2014 while the country was led by the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party.  

Upon his release, Maung Weik founded Say Paing–a construction company–and ran various business ventures through his connections to military officials.  

Maung Weik’s wife is also the niece of military-appointed Vice President Myint Swe, who was also the former chief minister of Yangon under the former military administration. 

The coup council announced on March 11 that the now-ousted National League for Democracy’s (NLD) Yangon Region chief minister Phyo Min Thein had given Aung San Suu Kyi $600,000 and more than 11 kilograms of gold. The announcement provided no reason as to why the money and gold were allegedly given to the State Counsellor by the chief minister. 

A top NLD figure told Myanmar Now that the funds in question were donations to build a pagoda. 

“They’re trying to fabricate this and ruin [Aung San Suu Kyi’s] reputation, but the public already clearly knows it’s not true. There’s no need to say anything else,” the official said. 

The junta has also accused the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation and an affiliated project, the La Yaung Taw Academy, of losing public funds. The foundation was founded by Aung San Suu Kyi and named after her late mother. 

According to the military council, the land lease for the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation’s headquarters, located on Yangon’s University Avenue, is not commensurate with the market price for land in the area. It argues that the country had lost more than 1 billion kyat (more than $700,000) in public funds as a result.

The junta declared that from 2013 to 2021, more than $7.9 million in donations from foreign NGOs, INGOs, companies and individual international donors flowed into the foundation’s three foreign currency accounts.

Also under investigation by the junta is the La Yaung Taw Academy in Naypyitaw, which trains young people in environmental conservation and horticulture in association with the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation. The military said the rate at which the land for the project was purchased came at a discount of at least 18 billion kyat (more than $12.7 million), which was subsequently a loss to the state. 

It also reportedly included some plans—such as the construction of a museum—that used funds in a way that strayed from the project’s, and the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation’s, original aims.

“The construction of a building with finance from the foundation for the chair of the foundation has deviated from the foundation’s objective,” the March 17 announcement in the military-run newspaper said. 

Prior to the corruption allegations, the military council had hit Aung San Suu Kyi with four charges at the Zabuthiri Township court in Naypyitaw.

She has been accused of violating Section 505(b) of the Penal Code for incitement, which carries a sentence of two years in prison; Article 67 of the communications law for possession of unauthorized items; an import-export charge for owning walkie-talkie devices; and a charge under the Natural Disaster Management Law for not following Covid-19 measures during the 2020 election campaign period.

The military council has not allowed Aung San Suu Kyi to meet with her legal team. 

“I’ll most likely see her via video conferencing on March 24 for the next hearing,” lawyer Min Min Soe told Myanmar Now. 

The military council has only allowed lawyers Yu Ya Chit and Min Min Soe to take on Aung San Suu Kyi’s case, ignoring the requests of more established legal experts, including Khin Maung Zaw and Kyi Win, to be granted power of attorney.

 

 

Myanmar Now

Myanmar Now is an independent news service providing free, accurate and unbiased news to the people of Myanmar in Burmese and English.
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