Aung San Suu Kyi made her first court appearance

Ousted Myanmar head of government Aung San Suu Kyi has appeared in person today in court. She is suspected by the military junta of breaking the coronavirus rules during the election campaign, and her party is suspected of fraud in the elections. It was the first time she was seen in public since the coup d’état on 1 February.

Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing said last week that Suu Kyi is safe and healthy. She’s under house arrest, and until today, she only appeared in court via video feed. Her lawyers were able to see her for half an hour today and talk directly to her. Before the session, the 75-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner noted that her party National League for Democracy (NLD) “will exist as long as the people exist, because it was founded for the people”. Suu Kyi and her party won the elections with force majeure in November 2020.

The army party lost many seats, after which the army leadership soon came up with allegations of fraud. However, this has never been proven. The military junta is threatening to dissolve the NLD. Since the coup, Myanmar has been restless. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest against the takeover. These protests have been brutally suppressed and over 810 people have been killed. Recently, armed groups have been fighting the army. Yesterday, dozens of soldiers were killed in several attacks.