Entire world rejoices as Aung San Suu Kyi’s release is upheld, but an appeal means she’ll remain detained for now.
Aung San Suu Kyi, a Burmese politician and opposition leader, is currently on trial for violating the country’s constitution. The charges against her include “inciting violence” and “undermining peace”.
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During a rally against the military coup in front of Myanmar’s Central Bank in Yangon in February, a protester holds up a banner showing Aung San Suu Kyi. Credit: Getty Images/Agence France-Presse
A Myanmar judge postponed the release of a highly awaited judgement against the country’s deposed civilian leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who is facing a succession of court rulings that may put her imprisoned for the rest of her life.
The 76-year-old is facing 11 accusations and a potential sentence of 102 years in jail after being seized in a military coup in February. Her trials took place behind closed doors in Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw. All five of her attorneys have been forbidden from communicating to the media by the junta, which claims that their communications might “destabilize the nation.”
According to a source acquainted with the proceedings, the court was set to issue the first judgement of inciting public commotion on Tuesday, but the judge postponed the case until next month. The reason for the judge’s announcement was unknown.
For a troubled country, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi is a flawed hero.
Her admirers in Myanmar see her as a protector of the country’s democracy, for which she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Her worldwide image, however, was tainted by her role in the military’s terrible crimes against the Rohingya.
The verdict on the accusation of inciting public disorder was anticipated on Tuesday, a year after Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi led her party to a resounding election win against the military-backed opposition.
A guilty finding will undoubtedly energise a protest movement that has seen thousands of people take up weapons against the army since the generals took control in February. The trials have been portrayed as politically motivated by the United Nations and other nations.
People have protested in the streets, physicians and nurses have stopped working in protest, and many have refused to pay taxes in a campaign known as the Civil Disobedience Movement in the months after the coup.
Despite the possibility of imprisonment, the movement continues to have considerable support. Defections are on the rise, with troops collaborating with armed protestors and insurgent groups to carry out hit-and-run operations against the military. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), a human rights group located in Thailand, the junta has retaliated by killing 1,297 individuals and arresting more than 10,500 others.
Last Monday, the National Unity Government, a coalition of dismissed civilian officials, said that it had received $6.3 million in “bonds” from citizens who wanted to support the revolution. Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi was viewed by many of her followers as the sole person capable of leading Myanmar toward complete democracy. Since 1962, the military has dominated the nation for half a century. Following her election in 2015, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi was compelled to share power with the army, which appointed 25% of Parliament.
Since her detention on February 1, she has not been seen in public and has been unable to communicate to anybody other than her attorneys. Military troops seized her and her colleagues from the National League of Democracy Party only hours before they were to assume their seats in parliament, accusing them of voting fraud. The claim has been refuted by Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi.
The accusation of incitement has been denounced by human rights organizations, who claim it is being used to intimidate military opponents. It has a potential three-year term and specifies that anybody who “publishes or distributes any statement, rumor, or report” with the “purpose to create, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public” may be held accountable.
As Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s case progressed, prosecutors began to lay fresh accusations against her. The decision handed down on Tuesday is the first of many likely in the following months.
In 2016, Aung San Suu Kyi met with Myanmar military commanders. Credit… Reuters/Soe Zeya Tun
Myanmar’s military has long been irritated by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, to the point that she was held under house arrest for over 15 years until 2010.
According to analysts, the Myanmar military, known as the Tatmadaw, has resented her tremendous popularity among the people. Her party, the National League of Democracy, scored a resounding win in the country’s national elections in 2015.
A year later, the N.L.D. filed a measure in Parliament to establish a new state counselor position for Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi. This decision was considered as a direct challenge to the Tatmadaw since it went against Myanmar’s Constitution, which was established by generals and prohibited presidential candidates from having close relatives who “owe loyalty to a foreign force.” (Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi was married to a British man who died, and she has two boys who reside in the United Kingdom.)
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi positioned herself above the president as state counselor and proclaimed herself foreign minister, a move the military saw as a power grab.
According to political observers, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi has long had a tense relationship with Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the man who arranged her removal from office in February. According to David Mathieson, a seasoned Myanmar observer, the two leaders spoke via an intermediary for years, “like embittered divorcés.”
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi was accused for being overly submissive to the generals during her time in power, but she described her relationship with the military as “not that horrible” and claimed the generals in her government were “very kind.” At 2019, she enraged the world community by defending the army’s 2017 onslaught on the Muslim Rohingya minority in The Hague.
In 2015, Aung San Suu Kyi greeted supporters during ceremonies commemorating the birth 100 years earlier of her father, Aung San, the country’s independence hero. Credit: Getty Images/Agence France-Presse
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi faces a number of allegations, including embezzlement and breaking the Official Secrets Act, as well as one count of inciting civil disturbance.
If she is found guilty on all 11 charges against her, she may face a maximum term of 102 years in jail. Her supporters claim the claims are false in order to force her out of politics forever.
A gag order has been issued on the five attorneys who are defending her, preventing them from speaking publicly about her case.
Five of the allegations accuse her of corruption, including collecting bribes in cash and gold, among other things. Those allegations have been labeled “absurd” by her.
She is facing a single allegation of breaching the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which forbids the disclosure of official information that might be advantageous to an adversary. Former finance officials and her Australian economic policy consultant, Sean Turnell, are co-defendants in that case, implying that the accusations include government spending.
Myanmar’s election commission, which has been taken over by the state, declared this month that she and 15 other leaders of her party, the National League for Democracy, will face accusations of electoral fraud. This case will be addressed independently from her criminal proceedings, and the party may be barred from running in future elections.
In addition, the court is likely to rule shortly on two charges of breaking Covid-19 regulations. These allegations come from an incident during the 2020 election campaign in which she stood outside with a face mask and face shield, with her dog, Taichito, by her side, waving to supporters driving by in cars. Masked aides and security personnel may be seen standing close yet socially distant in a video of the incident.
The court will hear closing arguments on two charges of unlawfully having and importing walkie-talkies next month. The gadgets, according to her argument, belonged to her security staff, not her.
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi is being held under house arrest in the capital, Naypyidaw, and is being tried in a special courtroom built out of another home’s living room.
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The “aung san suu kyi nobel prize revoked” is a news article about the Myanmar judge delaying Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial. The article also includes information on how many people have been killed in the conflict.
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