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 says.
Army chief General Min Aung Hlaing has justified the 1 February coup by alleging widespread voter fraud in November’s elections, which Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party swept.
Two days after the putsch, the 75-year-old Nobel laureate 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 Ms Suu Kyi, was detained in a dawn raid on 1 February – 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 Ms Suu Kyi’s party has heard that she is “in good health”.
Their detention period is set to end on Wednesday, said the lawyer, who has not been allowed to meet his clients yet.
He added that he would also be expected to represent Win Htein, a top NLD executive who was arrested after the coup.
Ms Suu Kyi’s right-hand man and confidante, Win Htein, was interviewed by local media post-coup, calling on the people of Myanmar to “oppose (the coup) as much as they can”.
The 79-year-old NLD stalwart has been charged with defamation, said Khin Maung Zaw.
“We are trying our best to meet with them,” he said, referring to the trio.
Since the coup, about 400 people have been detained, according to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners monitoring group.
While many arrested were political supporters of Ms Suu Kyi, authorities are also stepping up detentions of civilians taking part in nationwide protests against the military junta.
Security forces last week staged a late-night raid of the NLD headquarters in Yangon, confiscating computer devices, cutting server cables and breaking into the party’s safe.
On Monday Myanmar’s junta deployed extra troops around the country, including armoured vehicles in Yangon, and choked the internet as it intensified a crackdown on anti-coup protests, but defiant demonstrators again took to the streets.
Fresh protests again flared in the city, including near the central bank where troops were deployed.
“Patrolling with armoured vehicles means they are threatening people,” said 46-year-old Nyein Moe, among the more than one thousand gathered in front of the bank.
“People are marching on the streets and they don’t care to be arrested or shot. We can’t stop now. The fear in our mind is going away.”
Hundreds of engineering and technology students also protested in a northern district of Yangon, according to an AFP journalist.
There was a fresh rally in the southern city of Dawei too, a verified live stream on Facebook showed, with hundreds of protesters accompanied by a marching band.
Some carried banners against the military that read: “They kill in (the) day. They steal at night. They lie on TV.”
Protesters also came out in large numbers in the capital Naypyidaw and the second-biggest city Mandalay.
Monitoring group NetBlocks reported that a “state-ordered information blackout” had taken Myanmar almost entirely offline early Monday.
Internet connectivity was later restored around the start of the working day, with Netblocks saying the blackout lasted around eight hours.
But the monitor noted that most users in Myanmar were still barred from social media.
Protesters hold up signs during a demonstration against the military coup next to a truck carrying soldiers outside the Central Bank of Myanmar in Yangon on 15
AFP
Declaration of war
Intensifying fears the military was going to impose a far harsher crackdown, troops in the northern city of Myitkyina fired tear gas then shot at a crowd on Sunday night.
A journalist at the scene said it was unclear whether police had used rubber bullets or live rounds.
Local media outlets said at least five journalists monitoring the protest were detained and released on Monday.
They also published pictures of some people wounded in the incident.
A joint statement from the US, British and European Union ambassadors urged security forces not to harm civilians.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres echoed that call. Through his spokesman, he also asked the military to “urgently” allow Swiss diplomat Christine Schraner Burgener to visit Myanmar “to assess the situation first hand”.
The US embassy advised American citizens to shelter in place and not risk defying an overnight curfew imposed by the regime.
UN special rapporteur Tom Andrews said the junta’s efforts to rein in the burgeoning protest movement was a sign of “desperation” and amounted to a declaration of war against its people.
“Attention generals: You WILL be held accountable,” he tweeted.
