Burmese authorities yesterday filed criminal charges against deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi for possessing illegally imported walkie-talkies just days after the military ousted her government in a coup.
Aung San Suu Kyi was charged for breaching an import-export law and faces as many as three years in prison if convicted.
A police incident report said that unauthorized telecommunications equipment was found at her home in Naypyitaw, the capital.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Former Burmese president Win Myint was separately charged for breaching the natural disaster management law over an election campaign rally that police say breached COVID-19 restrictions and faces the same penalty, the report said.
Kyi Toe, a member of the central information committee of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party, confirmed the report.
Aung San Suu Kyi has called on supporters to resist Myanmar’s generals, who seized power on Monday after claiming without presenting evidence that her landslide victory in the election in November last year was tainted with fraud.
The military has pledged to hold elections after a year-long state of emergency.
NLD lawmakers yesterday released a statement demanding the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint, recognition of the election results and the removal of all barriers to holding a new parliamentary session.
Protests against the coup have emerged, with a “Civil Disobedience Movement” started by democracy advocates, including medical professionals, yesterday announcing that more than 70 hospitals and medical departments would stop work in protest of what it called an “illegitimate” government.
The coup could not have come at a worse time for a country battling a steady rise in COVID-19 cases with a dangerously inadequate health system.
“We want to show the world we are totally against military dictatorship, and we want our elected government and leader back,’’ said Zun Ei Phyu, a doctor in Yangon. “We want to show them we will follow only our elected government. Not the military.”
Photographs were shared on social media showing workers with red ribbons pinned to their clothes or holding printed photographs of red ribbons.
Others used a three-finger salute that has become a symbol of pro-democracy protests in Thailand, where the military staged a coup six years ago and remains influential.
Some medical staff went on strike, while others who continued work in government-run clinics made public their opposition to the new military rulers.
Some of those on strike have begun to volunteer at charity health clinics, many of which were shut down as a precaution against a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
At least 35 people were killed and dozens more injured when a man plowed his car into pedestrians exercising around a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday night. Footage showing bodies lying on the pavement appeared on social media in the hours after the crash, but had vanished by early Tuesday morning, and local police reported only “injuries.” It took officials nearly 24 hours to reveal that dozens had died — in one of the country’s deadliest incidents in years. China heavily monitors social media platforms, where it is common for words and topics deemed
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
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