Myanmar military claims Aung San Suu Kyi accepted $600k bribes while in office

The Myanmar military on Thursday claimed Aung San Suu Kyi had accepted $6,00,000 in bribes to back its allegation of corruption that the junta had levelled against the government following the February 1 coup. The military junta alleged that Suu Kyi also received gold as a bribe while she was in power between 2015 and 2020. A military spokesperson, in a press conference on Thursday, said the information has been verified and more people are being questioned in connection with the case. 

After last month’s coup, the military had accused the government of rigging elections as it levelled allegations of corruption against the ruling party and its leaders. The spokesperson on Thursday claimed that President Myint Swe pressurised the Election Commission to ignore the military’s reports of election fraud. The military representative further alleged that several ministers in Suu Kyi’s government also engaged in corruption. 

What led to the coup?

The military overthrew Myanmar’s democratically-elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1. The coup occurred on the day Myanmar newly-elected lawmakers were scheduled to take the oath. Myanmar arrested Suu Kyi and several other political leaders, including President Myint Swe. 

After Suu Kyi's party, National League for Democracy (NLD) won the election by an overwhelming majority, the military reportedly started levelling allegations of "election fraud", fearing their constitutional powers could be diluted if the government goes ahead with its promise of reducing the Army's quota in the parliament.  

After the coup, thousands of protesters took to the streets to oppose the overthrow of the government to demand the restoration of democracy. The military came crashing hard on pro-democracy protesters, using violent measures to stop and discourage demonstrations, killing over 50 people and detaining more than 1,700, including human rights activists, journalists, doctors, politicians.