Myanmar coup: Aung San Suu Kyi facing electoral fraud charges

Myanmar is still experiencing civil unrest due to the ongoing coup staged by the military junta, leading to its ousting of the country’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and other officials. A court in Myanmar has now added electoral fraud to the charges being placed against the ousted leader.

DPA reports that a court in Myanmar Monday added electoral fraud charges against Suu Kyi and Win Myint ahead of the first anniversary of the coup staged by the military to overthrow them. People familiar with the matter revealed that the verdicts are expected to be revealed after six months on top of other charges made against them by the junta.

Suu Kyi is already facing 11 other charges. 10 of the charges against her involve violations of anti-corruption law. Suu Kyi is reportedly facing 160 years in prison. In early January, Suu Kyi was sentenced to four years in prison for violating COVID-19 restrictions and importing a radio. Back in December, Suu Kyi was convicted on two other charges and sentenced to four years in prison, the junta reducing her sentence to two years hours after the conviction.

It remains to be seen whether Suu Kyi will be really serving a prison sentence or remain under house arrest. The ousted Myanmar leader has already been under house arrest for 15 years of her life.

Suu Kyi and her party won the parliamentary elections in 2020, securing a second term in office. However, according to observers, the military generals believed that Suu Kyi became too dangerous, leading them to stage a coup to take control of the government. The junta has since tried to justify its takeover by alleging election fraud but has presented no evidence to back up its claim against Suu Kyi.

In other related news, the junta has threatened to charge civilians who decide to close their business, bang pots, among other shows of protests, with sedition and terrorism charges as it marks one year since the military took over. The junta remains to face strong opposition, including peaceful protests as well as armed resistance.

Activists are planning to host a “silent strike” and have called for the public to stay at home between 10 am to 4 pm. People will clap or bang pots at the end of the silent strike, traditionally believed to drive out evil spirits and has been used as a way of protesting.