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regular-article-logo Monday, 23 December 2024

Suu Kyi faces electoral fraud charge as date set for verdict

She is facing 11 criminal cases with sentences that total more than a century in jail. Those include corruption and violating the Official Secrets Act

Reuters Bangkok Published 17.11.21, 01:08 AM
Suu Kyi.

Suu Kyi. File photo

Myanmar’s military authorities on Tuesday announced detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be prosecuted for electoral fraud and abuse of power, preparing new charges as a judge set a date for delivering the first verdict in her trial.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi was one of 16 people, mostly former election commissioners, accused of involvement in “electoral processes, electoral fraud and lawless actions” some of which involved threatening local officials, according to Tuesday’s announcement in state media.

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Suu Kyi, who was arrested in the hours before the military’s February 1 coup, is facing 11 criminal cases with sentences that total more than a century in jail. Those include corruption and violating the Official Secrets Act.

She appeared in court in the capital Naypyitaw on Tuesday during which a November 30 date was set for delivering the first verdict in the cases against her, on the charge of incitement, according to a source, with knowledge of the proceedings.

That case alleges Suu kyi and deposed President Win Myint were involved in the dissemination https://reut.rs/30uunYs in the days after the coup of an unsigned letter bearing their names, which urged foreign countries not to recognise the junta https://reut.rs/3cegRe0.

They deny involvement because they were being held incommunicado at the time.

Their trials are taking place behind closed doors and defence lawyers, previously the only source of information on the proceedings, are currently the subjects of a gag order https://reut.rs/3wOaKXn.

The military said it took power because its complaints of fraud by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, which won last year's election in a landslide, were being ignored by the election commission. The NLD says it won fairly.

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