SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 20 April 2024, Saturday |

Myanmar junta charges ousted leader Suu Kyi with fraud during 2020 polls

Myanmar’s junta has charged ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi with electoral fraud during the 2020 elections, which her party won by a landslide, according to state media on Tuesday.

Suu Kyi was accused of “election fraud and lawless actions,” according to Myanmar’s state-run Global New Light, without specifying when court proceedings would begin.

According to the report, fifteen other officials, including former President Win Myint and the chairman of the election commission, were charged with the same offense.

Myanmar has been in shambles since a military coup in February sparked nationwide protests and a bloody crackdown on dissent.

Suu Kyi, who has been detained since the putsch, faces a slew of charges, including illegally importing walkie talkies, sedition, and corruption, and faces decades in prison if convicted.

She is already on trial for breaking coronavirus rules while campaigning for the election, in which her National League for Democracy (NLD) defeated a military-aligned party.

International observers reported that the 2020 elections were mostly free and fair.

The junta has threatened to dissolve the NLD, and Win Htein, a close Suu Kyi aide and high-ranking leader, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last month on treason charges.

According to a local monitoring group, the Myanmar junta security forces have killed over 1,250 people and arrested over 10,000 since the coup.

    Source:
  • AFP