Published 12:30 IST, February 17th 2021
Aung San Suu Kyi's trial begins in secret after military imposes new charges
The trial of Myanmar’s ousted state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi has reportedly begun a day early, on February 16, without the knowledge of her lawyer.
The trial of Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi has reportedly begun a day early, without the knowledge of her lawyer, shortly after the military junta filed a new charge against her. Suu Kyi was deposed following a coup d’état led by General Min Aung Hlaing and has, since then, been under house arrest in Yangon. On February 16, new charges violating Article 25 of the National Disaster Management Law were imposed on her that could possibly allow the junta to hold her captive indefinitely.
'Bigger crimes'
The United Nations’s special rapporteur Tom Andrews said that he understood secretive trial” had already started and that a combination of expected mass protests on Wednesday and reports of large troop movements meant the military "could be on the precipice of … committing even greater crimes against the people of Myanmar".
Confirming the report further, Judge Nan Aye Mya Thiri, speaking to Myanmar Now in country capital Naypyitaw, asserted that the police had brought Suu Kyi along with ousted President Win Myint in the court on Tuesday, February 16, despite both of them remanded until January 17, Wednesday. She added that both of them appeared in a trial via video conference and looked in “good health”.
Myanmar State Counsellor, who is also the renowned face for the nation’s fight for democracy, had already been charged with export/import charges. Meanwhile, the Myanmar President has been charged under the National Disaster Management Law. Myanmar's military staged a coup and declared that it had taken control of the country for one year under a state of emergency. In the run-up to the November 2020 election, Army chief Min Aung Hlaing, who has acquired the power of the nation now, had claimed that civilian government was making "unacceptable mistakes".
The military alleged that the elections were full of ‘irregularities’ and questioned the veracity of at least 9 million votes cast in November 2020 even though the country’s election commission rejected the claims of fraud. Myanmar military stressed that it will protect and abide by its constitution. However, since February 1, the citizens of the Southeast Asian country have been organising nationwide protests demanding the release of both Suu Kyi and Win Myint with chanting and holding signs that read “free our leader”.
Updated 12:30 IST, February 17th 2021