Myanmar arrested Aung San Suu Kyi to face Naypyidaw court Aung San Suu Kyi News
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Five years after Aung San Suu Kyi became de facto leader in Myanmar, she finds herself in a familiar place: overcoming allegations made by a military dictatorship in house arrests, with her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), on the verge of disintegration.
On Monday, four months after the military seized power in a coup, the notorious politician will stand trial in Naypyidaw court on five charges, including illegal possession of walkie-talkies and violating coronavirus restrictions while campaigning for elections. Military officials have also accused him of corruption and violations of the Official Secrets Act of the colonial era.
There is a definite feeling between Aung San Suu Kyi and Army leader Min Aung Hlaing and the coup leader.
At 75, Aung San Suu Kyi faces up to life in prison that could lead to life imprisonment, permanently sidelined from a political framework defined for decades. Meanwhile, many in his favor have gone beyond historical calls for nonviolent resistance and gradual reform, accepting armed rebellion and the full power of the military regime.
“This time, there is no indication that the regime intends to release Aung San Suu Kyi, allow her to communicate with her supporters, or use her as a bargaining chip in her relations with the outside world. to shape politics, ”said Richard Horsey, a political analyst with decades of experience in Myanmar.
Despite being shut out of the outside world for the past four months, it has played a key role in the ongoing political crisis. Before the generals violently protested, more than 850 civilians were killed, with posters and banners bearing the face of Aung San Suu Kyi being the mainstay of most of the demonstrations.
“It simply came to our notice then. He is without a doubt the most popular political figure in the country, no one else is close to him, ”said historian Thant Myint-U and Burmese Hidden History author.
Tarnished icon
Aung San Suu Kyi emerged as a political force in the 1988 uprisings against a previous military regime, perfectly prepared to take the lead in the pro-democracy movement in Myanmar in times of instability. The daughter of the independence icon Aung St, she had just returned to the UK, studied at Oxford and married a British man.
He became synonymous with the pro-democracy movement in Myanmar and earned millions of respects by sacrificing freedom and security, winning the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. He spent years in detention at home and away from home, and survived an assassination attempt in 2003. it left dozens, perhaps hundreds, dead. Aung San Suu Kyi’s education and international recognition were also a source of admiration for many of her followers.
Although he was a force in front of many, it was an insult to the ultranationalist military, also known as Tatmadaw, and he often committed sexist insults against his “wife of foreigners”.
In 2008, before the election was allowed, the military regime drafted a new constitution that allowed it to maintain control over several key institutions and secure 25% of parliamentary seats. A clause prohibiting anyone with a foreign husband or children from being president was also added, and many saw it as aimed directly at Aung San Suu Kyi.
With the help of a constitutional lawyer named Ko Ni, he found his way around the ban, taking the role of state councilor after the NLD won the first election in 2015. Two years later, it was Ko Ni shot dead.
While she was a global superstar as an activist, many of her biggest supporters were once disappointed in power.
In 2017, most hundreds of thousands of Muslims fled the Rohingya to Bangladesh when the military liberated a savage repression in the western state of Rakhine.
The Nobel laureate did not condemn the actions of the military and after the genocide case he went to the International Court of Justice in The Hague to go to the Netherlands defend what the generals have done.
“Aung San Suu Kyi’s domestic popularity grew as she moved from dissident to national leader. Internationally, she fell out of grace as a result of violence against the Rohingya, who was seen as an accomplice in denying the extent of abuses and defending the military,” Horsey said.
Thinzar Shunlei Yi, an activist and protest leader, is one of many young human rights defenders who grew up idolizing Aung San Suu Kyi during his time in power.
“She was the reason for being a defender of women’s human rights,” she said. But as the violence against the Rohingya continued to increase, Thinzar became one of the only people to appear against Shunlei Yi, opposing his hero and his set of supporters.
“I explained myself against him and I got a lot of turns back,” he said.
It requires radical change
It was not in the Rohingya crisis that Aung San Suu Kyi did not live up to expectations. “The fact that human rights principles were being deserted was also seen in government in other ways, such as free media, civil society, and treating the rights of ethnic minorities,” Horsey explained.
When Two Reuters journalists were arrested for exposing the military killings of Rohingya civilians, Aung San Suu Kyi said the case “has nothing to do with freedom of expression”. While in power, journalists and Facebook users faced criminal charges for criticizing NLD politicians.
After the NLD leadership was dispersed or imprisoned after the coup, more progressive activists like Thinzar Shunlei Yi led the initial resistance movement. They called for more and more radical changes, such as the repeal of the 2008 military constitution, the complete removal of the military from politics, the reform of the 1982 Citizenship Discrimination Act, which helped leave the Rohingya stateless, and an armed revolution rather than nonviolent resistance.
These positions were eventually adopted by the National Union Government, a parallel government formed by elected parliaments in defiance of the military regime. Thinzar Shunlei Yi acknowledged that Aung San Suu Kyi still has “so much impact” on the pro-democracy movement, but worries that this impact could also be twofold.
“Even in this revolution where people are running hungry, people think about their situation and cry,” he said. This can help motivate people, even when they are persecuted and lose hope.
But Aung San Suu Kyi may disagree with the armed insurgency, repeal the constitution, or accept Rohingya as a citizen. “If he says anything against the current revolution, things would be turned upside down,” said Thinzar Shunlei Yik.
While some have argued that Aung San Suu Kyi sided with the military in the Rohingya crisis because of fear of a coup or the need to turn to a nationalist voter base, others say his position only reflected real beliefs on the issue.
“It’s not at all clear that his attitude towards the Rohingya was driven by political considerations,” Horsey said. “But it certainly meant that when the coup took place, he had a lower international reputation, at a time when he needed the most international support.”
‘Full of optimism’
In all, Aung San Suu Kyi is facing seven criminal charges; five in the capital Naypyidaw, one in the Supreme Court and a recently added corruption allegation.
His lawyers are among the only people who have had access to the arrested detainee since he was arrested in February. Khin Maung Zaw, the head of his legal team, told Al Jazeera that he had met with Aung San Suu Kyi and ousted President Win Myint on Monday, June 7th. Khin Maung Zaw said the five cases in Naypyidawe are classified as “simple” and will be held every Monday and Tuesday until the end of the month.
In the case of the Supreme Court, which said that the court defended Aung San Suu Kyi, Khin Maung Zaw said it was done “without his knowledge and permission.”
“He also told people who were kept in custody that he would not defend his case without a lawyer,” he said.
He said Aung San Suu Kyi was not satisfied with the agreement to provide medicines on a regular basis, although he and two other politicians “appeared to be in good health”.
When asked by Khin Maung Zaw about his spirit, he said, “Unlike me, he is full of optimism.”
It was revealed by the military on Wednesday new charges of corruption Aung San Suu Kyi allegedly took the bribe and rented the land at discounted rates because of an additional 15-year prison sentence.
Khin Maung Zaw says the latest allegation is “absurd” and “baseless”. “He may have mistakes, but personal greed and corruption are not his characteristics,” he said, saying he is “incorruptible”.
Considering the nature of the trials, Thinzar Shunlei Yik Aung San Suu Kyi has been encouraged to “join the CDM” by “boycotting the judicial system.” The CDM is a Civil Disobedience Movement, a mass strike of officials who refuse to work in the military regime.
“I don’t trust the home judicial system and I don’t think so [military] he will make a fair trial for himself and other leaders, ”he said.
Although it appears that the outcome of the trial is inevitable, Thant Myint-Uk says it was not what happened in Myanmar.
“There was no way for the army to agree on constitutional reform,” Thant Myint-Uk said. “But the impressive economic agenda that introduced billions of people into new investments and created millions of new jobs, along with measures to combat discrimination, build a more inclusive nation and work closely with civil society, could surpass military leadership, and perhaps earn much in the officer corps.”
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