Ruling junta to prosecute Aung San Suu Kyi for “electoral fraud”

The military continue to consolidate their power in Burma, notably by silencing the country’s most symbolic voice. The Burmese junta has therefore tightened its judicial grip on Aung San Suu Kyi, overthrown in February. The generals will indict him for “electoral fraud” during the legislative elections of 2020 won hands down by his party, the National League for Democracy (LND).

The Nobel Peace Prize, under house arrest for more than nine months, will be prosecuted for “electoral fraud”, the newspaper confirmed on Tuesday Global New Light of Myanmar, controlled by the regime, without giving further details. Fifteen other officials, including former President Win Myint, also arrested in the February 1 coup, will be prosecuted for the same offense. Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing further threatened to dissolve the NLD and assured that new elections would be held by August 2023.

More than 11 million irregularities, according to the military

The junta justifies its passage in force by assuring to have discovered more than 11 million irregularities during the elections of November 2020. But no one had been indicted for this so far. At the time, international observers qualified the ballot as “generally free and fair”.

This new indictment of the former leader comes the day after the release of American journalist Danny Fenster, pardoned after more than six months of detention on the eve of a trial where he risked life imprisonment for terrorism. He was deported to the United States.

Aung San Suu Kyi, 76, has been on trial since June for a multitude of offenses – illegal importation of walkie-talkies, sedition, corruption, incitement to public disturbance … She is also accused of violating the rules of restrictions against the Covid -19. And a first verdict is expected on December 14 in this part of the case. The February coup put an end to a decade-long democratic transition.