A court in Myanmar charged deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi with breaching an import and export law, a spokesperson from her National League for Democracy (NLD) informed on Wednesday, 3 February. Win Myint, the country’s ousted president, was also charged with violating the natural disaster management law.
According to official police documents accessed by news organisation AFP, a military team searched Suu Kyi's residence on Monday, when they found at least 10 walkie talkies. Suu Kyi was charged with illegally importing these communication devices.
AFP also reported that Myint has been charged for participating in a public campaign event with his wife and his daughter in September 2020, defying restrictions amid a pandemic.
NLD’s press officer Kyi Toe confirmed that the charge against Suu Kyi could mean a maximum of three years of imprisonment. Further, a leaked charge sheet dated 1 February indicates that Suu Kyi and Myint can be held in custody till 15 February, AP reported.
These charges come days after the military staged a putsch on the democratically-elected Myanmar government on Monday, ousting Suu Kyi and President Win Myint. The coup led to Army Chief General Min Aung Hlaing gaining legislative, judicial and executive control of the state for a year.
Since the coup, NLD members have had no direct contact with Suu Kyi. However, according to Kyi Toe, a neighbour sighted the leader on Tuesday, in her Naypyidaw residence, where she was believed to be detained under house arrest, AFP reported,
Govt Order Urge Myanmar Internet Providers to Block Facebook
Days after Monday’s coup, internet providers in Myanmar, including state-owned telecom MPT, were blocking access to Facebook Inc-owned services in the country on Thursday, 4 February, Reuters reported.
In a letter posted by the Ministry of Communications and Information late at night, the ministry informed that Facebook would be blocked until 7 February for “stability”.
Network monitoring group NetBlocks confirmed that state-owned telecom MPT had blocked Facebook as well as its Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp services, Reuters reported.
(With inputs from AFP, AP and Reuters.)
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