Myanmar's deposed leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been charged
with breaking a colonial-era official secrets law, her lawyer said on Thursday,
the most serious charge against the veteran opponent of military rule.
اضافة اعلان
Myanmar has been rocked by protests since the army overthrew
Suu Kyi's elected government on February 1 citing unsubstantiated claims of
fraud in a November election that her party swept.
Suu Kyi and other members of her National League for
Democracy (NLD) have been detained.
The junta had earlier accused her of several minor offences
including illegally importing six handheld radios and breaching coronavirus
protocols.
Her chief lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, told Reuters by telephone
that Suu Kyi, three of her deposed cabinet ministers and a detained Australian
economic adviser, Sean Turnell, were charged a week ago in a Yangon court under
the official secrets law, adding he learned of the new charge two days ago.
A conviction under the law can carry a prison sentence of up
to 14 years.
A spokesman for the junta did not answer telephone calls
seeking comment.
Suu Kyi, who is 75 and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for
her efforts to bring democracy to Myanmar, appeared via video link for a
hearing in connection with the earlier charges on Thursday. Another of her
lawyers, Min Min Soe, said she appeared to be in good health.
"Amay Su and President U Win Myint are in good
health," the lawyer said, referring to Suu Kyi by an affectionate term for
mother. The president, a Suu Kyi ally, was also deposed and detained in the
coup. He too faces various charges.
Their lawyers have said the charges against both of them
were trumped up.
At least 538 civilians have been killed in protests against
the coup, 141 of them on Saturday, the bloodiest day of the unrest, according
to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) activist group.
Protesters were back out in several places on Thursday and
two more people were killed, according to media reports, as activists burned
copies of a military-framed constitution and called for unity among all those
opposed to army rule.
One person was killed and five wounded when the security
forces fired in the central town of Monywa, the Monywa Gazette reported.
Security forces also opened fire in the second largest city
of Mandalay killing one person, media reported. Shots rang out and black smoke
drifted over Myanmar's ancient royal capital.
Police and a spokesman for the military did not answer calls
seeking comment.
'New Day'
The coup has also triggered new clashes in Myanmar's old
wars.
At least 20 soldiers were killed and four military trucks
destroyed in clashes with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), one of Myanmar's
most powerful rebel groups, DVB news reported.
Reuters could not immediately verify the reports and a junta
spokesman did not answers calls seeking comment on the clash.
Myanmar military aircraft have started bombing positions of
another group, the Karen National Union (KNU), for the first time in more than
20 years and thousands of villagers have fled from their homes, many into
Thailand.
The army takeover has led to calls for a united opposition
among city-based democracy campaigners and ethnic minority forces battling in
frontier regions.
Ousted members of parliament, mostly from Suu Kyi's party,
have vowed to set up a federal democracy in a bid to address a long-standing
demand from minority groups for autonomy.
They also announced the scrapping of the 2008 constitution
drawn up by the military that enshrines its control over politics. The military
has long rejected the idea of a federal system, seeing itself as the central
power vital to holding the fractious country together.
Social media posts showed copies of the constitution, real
and symbolic, being burned at rallies and in homes during what one activist
called a "constitution bonfire ceremony".
"The new day begin here!" Dr Sasa, the
international envoy for the ousted parliamentarians said on Twitter, referring
to what for now is not a change that proponents can make.
The UN special envoy on Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgene,
told the 15-member UN Security Council on Wednesday that the military was not
capable of managing the country.
The council must consider "potentially significant
action" to reverse the course of events as "a bloodbath is
imminent", she said.
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