Yangon: Myanmar’s deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi is facing four additional criminal charges, filed in a court in the country’s second-biggest city Mandalay, according to her lawyer, as the United Nations called for reconciliation in the violence-wracked Southeast Asian nation.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s legal team had little information about the latest charges, except that they relate to corruption and that two were also levelled at Min Thu, a former minister in her government, lawyer Min Min Soe told the Reuters news agency.
The new cases could see Aung San Suu Kyi, 76, tied up in legal proceedings in three different cities.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been held since the military seized power in a February 1 coup and is on trial in the capital, Naypyidaw, over charges that include illegal importation and possession of walkie-talkie radios and violating coronavirus protocols under a disaster management law.
She is charged also in a Yangon court, accused of unspecified breaches of the Official Secrets Act, punishable by a maximum of 14 years in jail.
Chief lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said cross-examination on Monday of a prosecution witness revealed a raid on Aung San Suu Kyi’s home had been carried out illegally without a warrant.
At a news conference on Monday, military spokesman Zaw Min Tun made no mention of any new charges.
He said she had breached the constitution when the post of state counsellor was created, which he said came between the president and vice presidents in the command structure.
It was not clear if that allegation was among the new charges.
Aung San Suu Kyi was barred from the presidency because her late husband and children have foreign citizenship. After her party won the country’s first election, she was appointed to a new role – state counsellor – and served in that position as the country’s de facto leader before the generals grabbed power.
The UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution condemning human rights violations by the military against the Rohingya and other minorities in Myanmar and called for a process of reconciliation in the country. Reuters
