Two days after the coup in Myanmar, the police have framed charges against leader Aung San Suu. According to a report by the news agency Associate Press, Myanmar police have accused Aung San Suu Kyi of illegally importing communication equipment. Police has demanded from the court to give Aung San Suu Kyi in custody for 15 February. It is being said that this step is an attempt to show Aung San Suu’s arrest legally correct.
On Monday, the Myanmar army had taken over the power of the country and arrested all the leaders of the ruling parties including Aung San Suu Kyi. The army justified its action by claiming rigging in the elections and imposed emergency in the country for a year. Actually, Aung San Suu Kyi’s party had won a big victory in the elections held on November 9 last year, while the party supporting the army had to be satisfied with very few seats.
According to a police document, four radios have been recovered from Aung San Suu Kyi’s house, which have been imported illegally. Police have said that apart from violating the country’s import-export law, Aung San Suu Kyi’s bodyguards were using these radios without permission. Myanmar police have said that Aung San Suu Kyi has been arrested for investigating witnesses and evidence.
Burmese Campaign UK director Mark Farmaner said the allegations against Suu Kyi were absolutely bogus and showed fear of the military. He said, “Over the years, the military has kept Aung San Suu Kyi in jail for a long time over trivial matters. Earlier, the reason for an American citizen to swim in a lake near Aung San Suu Kyi’s house was John Yataw. They were put in jail. The fact is that they are putting Aung San Suu Kyi in jail because they are scared of them. ”
Aljazeera journalist Ali Foulay says that Myanmar’s import-export law is very vague. It can be anything from a fax machine to a walkie-talkie. This is a notorious law because earlier military governments also used this law to keep political prisoners in jail.
The ASEAN Human Rights Parliamentary Committee (APHR) has said that the Myanmar coup is like rubbing salt on the wounds of millions of people who voted for Aung San Suu Kyi’s party in November. The organization said that Myanmar can once again return to the era of military dictatorship. APHR President Charles Santiago said, these allegations are fake. The Myanmar army is trying to legitimize its illegal occupation of power after overthrowing a democratically elected government.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s party National League for Democracy (NLD) has appealed to the Army to honor the results of the elections held in November and immediately release the arrested leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi. In a statement posted on its Facebook page, the Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar is going against the constitution and occupying power and ignoring the power of the people.
Myanmar has been under military rule for decades. Suu Kyi has spent nearly 15 years in prison from 1989 to 2010. In 2011, due to the people’s movement and international pressure, the government elected by the people under the leadership of Aung San Suu came, but the military remained in power. In the constitution, 25 percent seats have been reserved for the army and the army has the right to appoint the three most important ministries.
Suu’s image, which won the Nobel Prize for the fight for democracy, suffered a lot in the last few years. Aung San Suu was most criticized when he defended the army’s action against Rohingya Muslims. The United States and other organizations had termed the Myanmar army’s action against the Rohingyas as genocide.
