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By Grant Peck | Associated press
BANGKOK ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi was tried on Monday on charges which many observers say constitute an attempt by the impeached junta to eliminate her as a political force, erase the gains democratic countries and cement the power of the military.
The lawsuits against Suu Kyi represent another major setback for Myanmar, which was slowly moving towards democracy when a coup in February prevented elected MPs from its National League for Democracy party from taking office after the landslide victory of last year.
Human Rights Watch said the allegations heard by a special court in the capital, Naypyitaw, are “false and politically motivated” with the intention of overturning the victory and preventing Suu Kyi from running again.
“This trial is clearly the first salvo in a comprehensive strategy to neutralize Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy party as a force capable of defying the military regime in the future,” said Phil Robertson, deputy director of the organization for Asia.
Deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq, responding to a question about Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ reaction to the trial, said the UN’s position is clear: “We want her and all the senior members of his administration be released “.
“The secretary general has called and continues to call for the overturning of the February 1 coup and the reestablishment of the legitimate government of Myanmar, of which Aung San Suu Kyi is a member,” Haq said.
The military seized power on February 1 before the new lawmakers could sit and arrested Suu Kyi, who served as special adviser, President Win Myint and other members of his government and the ruling party. The Southeast Asian country has apparently gone overnight from an emerging democracy to the international pariah it had been for decades under military rule.
The military justified its coup by alleging that the government failed to properly investigate the accusations of voting irregularities. Since then, he said he has found evidence of fraud, a claim disputed by the Independent Asian Network for Free Elections and many others. Junta officials have threatened to dissolve the National League for Democracy and any conviction of Suu Kyi could see her excluded from politics.
The junta has claimed it will hold new elections within a year or two, but the country’s military has a long history of election promises and non-fulfillment. The military ruled Myanmar for 50 years after a coup in 1962 and kept Suu Kyi under house arrest for 15 years after the failure of the 1988 popular uprising.
The latest military takeover sparked nationwide protests that continue despite a violent crackdown that has left hundreds dead. Although street protests have declined in number and scale, the junta is now facing a low-intensity armed insurgency by opponents in rural and urban areas.
The trial against Suu Kyi, 75, is over, but her lawyers said at the end of court day that the prosecution had started presenting her case.
Suu Kyi has been charged with illegally importing walkie-talkies for the use of her bodyguards, unlicensed use of radios, and disseminating information that could cause public alarm or unrest, as well as on two counts of violating the Natural Disaster Management Act for allegedly violating pandemic restrictions during the 2020 election campaign, his lawyers said on Sunday.
“All of these charges should be dropped, which would result in his immediate and unconditional release,” said Robertson of Human Rights Watch. “But unfortunately, with the restrictions on access to her lawyers and the fact that the case is heard in a court fully accountable to the military junta, it is unlikely to receive a fair trial.”
Government prosecutors will have until June 28 to complete their presentation, after which Suu Kyi’s defense team will have until July 26 to present their case, senior member Khin Maung Zaw said last week. ‘team. Court hearings are scheduled to take place on Monday and Tuesday of each week.
Two other more serious charges against Suu Kyi are dealt with separately: one for violating the Colonial-era Official Secrets Act, punishable by up to 14 years in prison, and another for corruption, punishable by with a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a fine.
Although Suu Kyi faced her first charge just days after the February coup, she did not allow her first face-to-face meeting with her lawyers until May 24, when she appeared for the first time in court for a pre-trial hearing. Since then, she has had another brief encounter with them before seeing them in court on Monday.
A photo from her May 24 appearance released by state media showed her sitting with her back straight in a small courtroom, wearing a pink mask, with her hands clasped in her lap. Beside him were his two co-defendants, the former president as well as the former mayor of Naypyitaw, Myo Aung.
More than four months after the coup, members of the UN team on the ground “remain deeply concerned about the use of violence by the security forces, with daily reports of deaths and injuries. injured, ”said deputy spokesman Haq.
The team reports at least 861 women, children and men killed since February 1, thousands more injured and 4,800 people in detention, including politicians, authors, human rights defenders, teachers, health workers, government officials, journalists, monks, celebrities and ordinary citizens. citizens, said Haq.
The UN reiterates its call on the security forces “to protect civilians as widespread and systematic violations of human rights law such as extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, torture and ill-treatment, and enforced disappearances continue. Haq said.
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