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Aung San Suu Kyi. Picture: REUTERS
Aung San Suu Kyi. Picture: REUTERS

Myanmar police have filed charges against ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi for illegally importing communications equipment and she will be detained until February 15 for investigations, according to a police document.

Myanmar’s army seized power on Monday, detaining Nobel laureate Suu Kyi and cutting short a transition to democracy in a takeover that has drawn condemnation from the US and other Western countries.

A police request to a court detailing the accusations against Suu Kyi said walkie-talkie radios had been found in a search of her home in the capital, Naypyidaw. It said the radios were imported illegally and used without permission.

The document reviewed on Wednesday requested Suu Kyi’s detention “to question witnesses, request evidence and seek legal counsel after questioning the defendant”.

A separate document showed police filed charges against ousted President Win Myint for offences under the Disaster Management Law.

The police, government and court could not immediately be reached for comment.

Suu Kyi endured about 15 years of house arrest between 1989 and 2010 as she led the country’s democracy movement and remains hugely popular at home despite damage to her international reputation over the flight of Muslim Rohingya refugees in 2017.

Her National League for Democracy (NLD) party said in a statement earlier that its offices had been raided in several regions and urged authorities to stop what it called unlawful acts after its victory in a November 8 election.

Army chief Min Aung Hlaing seized power on the grounds of fraud in the election, which the NLD won in a landslide. The electoral commission had said the vote it was fair.

The G7 group of developed economies condemned the coup on Wednesday and said the election result must be respected.

“We call on the military to immediately end the state of emergency, restore power to the democratically elected government, to release all those unjustly detained and to respect human rights and the rule of law,” the G7 said in a statement.

Reuters

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