The military junta have slapped Aung San Suu Kyi with a new charge. The ousted leader now faces a charge of accepting illegal payment worth $600,000 and gold while in the government.
Suu Kyi already faces charges of illegal possession of six walkie talkies and publication of information that may "cause fear or alarm” or disrupt “public tranquillity”.
The new allegation is the strongest yet, since the military coup on February 1. As per a junta spokesperson, the charges are verified and several people were being questioned. Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun told Reuters, President Win Myint and several cabinet ministers had engaged in corruption. The accused remain under house arrest.
Several Myanmar police officers, in the meantime, have fled across the border to India after they refused to carry out orders by the military to open fire on protestors. At least 60 protestors have been killed so far as a result of the military or police officials opening fire on them. Protestors have been relentlessly taking to the streets since the coup on February 1. The military has justified its take over of the government by stating that the elections in November that Aung San Suu Kyi won by a landslide were fraudulent.
The US and the UK announced sanctions on military leaders of Myanmar, whereas, the UNSC condemned the coup. Sri Lanka on Wednesday invited Myanmar’s junta-appointed Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin for a virtual meeting of members of the regional body The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). Several Myanmar citizens have posted a trail of critical comments on the official page of Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry and urged Lanka to stand with the people of Myanmar.