Portraits of Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint are hung at a traffic junction in Yangon. (Feb. 16, 2021)
The trial of Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint was held in secret on Tuesday, according to a new report in the New York Times. The two defendants appeared via video, and their defense lawyers were unaware in advance that the trial was to begin Tuesday.
As with many legal cases in Myanmar, the trial was fraught with anomalies. U Khin Maung Zaw, Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyer, was initially told that the court proceedings would begin on Monday. He was then misled into believing that the trial would begin on Wednesday. He was suddenly notified at 11 a.m. Tuesday that his client had appeared via video from a court in the capital, Naypyidaw. There are reports that the next court trial is scheduled for March 1.
Myanmar’s Senior State Minister Aung San Suu Kyi and democratically elected President Win Myint were ousted two weeks ago in a military coup. Aung San Suu Kyi was first charged with violating import restrictions, but earlier Tuesday she was added to charges of violating natural disaster management laws. Win Myint was charged with violating the natural disaster management law. They could face six years and three years in prison, respectively.
Myanmar’s military detained Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior officials in the civilian government on Feb. 1 and declared a year-long state of emergency. Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League For Democratic (NLD) won a landslide in last November’s general election. The Myanmar Election Commission rejected the military’s claim that there was widespread fraud.
On the other hand, the junta held its first press conference since the coup on Tuesday (Feb. 16). Speaking at the conference, ruling council spokesman Brig. Gen. Zaw Min Tun pledged that elections would be held and power would be handed over. He said, “Our goal is to hold elections and hand over power to the winning party.”
Zaw Min Tun dismissed claims that Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint were detained, saying they were at Home for security reasons while the state of emergency was in place.
The junta also denied that the removal of the democratically elected government was a coup move and accused protesters of violence and intimidation.
Myanmar’s military has repeatedly claimed to hold fair elections since it took over power on Feb. 1. However, they have not yet given a specific date for the elections. Zaw Min Tun said the military will not be in power for too long.
Zaw Min Tun also said Myanmar’s foreign policy would not change, that it remains open for business and that deals will be upheld.
The launch took place over nearly two hours and was broadcast live by the military via Facebook from the capital Naypyidaw. Facebook is a platform banned by the Burmese military.
Large demonstrations and protests have erupted across Myanmar over the past week or so against the military takeover of the government and demanding the junta release Aung San Suu Kyi. Authorities have cracked down on the protests and arrested many people.
On Tuesday (Feb. 16), protests continued across Burma. Protesters blocked the street in front of the Central Bank of Burma in Yangon. Protesters also blocked rail traffic between Yangon and the southern city of Mawtan Meanchey, Reuters said. Dozens of Buddhist monks took part in a protest march in Yangon on Tuesday.
Tens of thousands of protesters defied a strict curfew and a ban on gatherings of more than four people to fill the streets of Myanmar’s major cities, carrying signs with pro-democracy slogans, many of them with pictures of Aung San Suu Kyi on them. They held up three fingers in salute as they marched, a show of resistance to tyranny like that depicted in the popular “Hunger Games” movie.
In addition to the protests, government employees and civil servants are on strike, causing disruptions to train services across the country. The military has ordered civil servants back to work and has threatened to take action against them. Clashes between protesters and Burmese police have been escalating since the state of emergency was imposed.
Security forces have become increasingly aggressive against the protesters, firing warning bullets, rubber bullets and high-pressure water cannons in an attempt to disperse them. On Sunday, protesters at a power plant in northern Kachin state were fired upon by security forces. Video of the protest showed members of the military firing to disperse the crowd, but it was not clear if the bullets were rubber bullets or live ammunition.
On the other hand, China’s ambassador to Myanmar said Tuesday that the current political situation in the country is “absolutely not what China wants to see” and dismissed rumors on social media of Chinese involvement in the Feb. 1 military coup as “totally nonsensical.
Protests against the coup in Myanmar have drawn hundreds of thousands of people to the streets in recent days, some of them outside the Chinese Embassy in Yangon, where protesters have accused Beijing of supporting the military government.
The United Nations has warned the Burmese military that any brutal crackdown on the anti-coup protests would have “serious consequences.
A U.N. spokeswoman said the warning came during a phone call Monday between U.N. Special Envoy for Burma Christine Schraner Burgener and Soe Win, vice chairman of the junta’s National Leadership Council. “The right to peaceful assembly must be fully respected,” Burgener said.
Since the Feb. 1 coup, the Burmese junta has been regularly blocking the Internet in an attempt to silence dissidents. The Internet disruption “undermines core democratic principles,” Bürgner stressed.
In the latest news, Myanmar’s Internet was restored Tuesday morning after being cut off for the second night in a row.
Bilgner again urged the Burmese military to allow her to visit the country if conditions are satisfactory.
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