Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar has been arrested after a coup

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Suu Kyi, who was the de facto leader of the country under the title of state councilor, received an arrest warrant for breaching the country’s import and export laws.

National League for Democracy (NLD) spokesman Kyi Toe posted on his Facebook account on Wednesday that Suu Kyi will be detained until February 15.

“According to reliable information, a 14-day arrest warrant was issued against Daw Aung San Su Kyi under the Import and Export Act,” he said.

Deposed President Win Myint was also jailed under the country’s disaster management law, Kyi Toe said.

Suu Kyi and former President Win Myint were arrested in raids before dawn on Monday hours before the army declared that power had been handed over to Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing on unfounded allegations of electoral fraud. A state of emergency was declared for a year.

Numerous senior lawmakers and officials from the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) Party were also arrested, with about 400 in a guest house in the capital.

Cementing his government, the new governing board removed 24 rulers and deputies from the government and appointed 11 of its own allies as substitutes who will take on their role in a new administration.

The sudden seizure of power came when the new parliament was to be opened and after months of growing friction between the civilian government and the powerful military, known as the Tatmadaw, over alleged electoral irregularities.

Suu Kyi’s party, the NLD, won an overwhelming victory in the November 2020 elections, only the second since the end of the military government, garnering 83% of the vote, which gave the government five more years.

The country’s electoral commission has repeatedly denied that there was massive electoral fraud.

Analysts have suggested that the coup is more likely to have to do with the military’s attempt to reassert its power and the personal ambition of Army leader Min Aung Hlaing, who was due to resign this year. instead of serious allegations of electoral fraud.

“Faced with mandatory retirement in a few months, with no path to a civilian leadership role, and amid global calls for him to face criminal charges in The Hague, he was cornered,” Jared Genser said. , an international human rights lawyer who previously practiced as a bonus lawyer for Suu Kyi, said in a CNN opinion.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden formally determined that the military acquisition in Myanmar was a coup, a designation that requires the U.S. to cut foreign assistance to the country. A State Department official, who spoke in a call with reporters, also said sanctions in response to the seizure of power remain on the table.

After the coup, doctors in hospitals across the country prepared to go on strike in protest, despite the coronavirus pandemic.

Deputy doctors at Yangon General Hospital issued a statement promising their participation in the “civil disobedience movement”, saying they would not work under a military-led government and demanded the release of Suu Kyi.

The video on Wednesday showed medical workers in Yangon, outside the hospital, wearing scrubs and protective gear while wearing red ribbons.

A medical staff has a paper with the red ribbon sign as a symbol of resistance to the military coup at Yangon Central Women’s Hospital, Myanmar, on February 3, 2021.

Myanmar’s information ministry on Tuesday warned the media and the public not to spread rumors on social media or incite riots, and urged people to co-operate with the government after Monday’s coup.

“Some media outlets and the public are spreading rumors on social media that they are holding meetings to incite barbarism and are issuing statements that may cause unrest,” the statement said. “We would like to urge the public not to carry out these acts and we would like to notify them to cooperate with the government in accordance with existing laws.”

Anxiety is growing in Myanmar for what will come next and many in the country have urged the international community to step up government pressure.

For more than 50 years, Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, was ruled by successive isolationist military regimes that plunged the country into poverty and brutally stifled any dissent. Thousands of critics, activists, journalists, academics and artists were routinely imprisoned and tortured during this time.

Suu Kyi gained prominence during her decades-long struggle against the military government. When his party, the NLD, won a landslide in the 2015 elections and formed the first civilian government, many supporters of democracy hoped it would mark the break-up of the military government of the past and offer hope that Myanmar would continue to reform.

“We know that the army cannot be trusted to respect the human rights of the people and the rule of law in Burma,” said Bo Kyi, co-founder of the Political Prisoners Assistance Association. “When the military took office, political prisoners like me were reunited, sent to prison for decades, (locked up) in isolation and tortured. We are concerned that if this state of emergency is not reversed, they will return to happen similar things, “added Kyi, who is also a former political prisoner.

“There is fear that the military may continue to persecute officers, activists and repress the common people. But we hope that Burma can return to its democratic path.”

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