Ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi charged following coup
A convoy of army vehicles patrol the streets of Mandalay, Myanmar, Feb. 3, 2021.
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Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s controversial ousted leader — who has been detained by authorities since Monday following a coup by the country’s military — has now been formally charged. The charges levied against Suu Kyi include violating import and export laws, and possession of unlawful communication devices — imported walkie-talkies.
Legal charges against the Nobel laureate, whose popularity has endured for years in the country, might seem obscure. But it could be enough to secure the military’s objective of barring her from political office since members of parliament in Myanmar cannot have previous criminal convictions. Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, recently took the majority of seats in a recent election in which the military alleges voter fraud.
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Listen: Military coup in Myanmar raises alarms at home and abroad
In Myanmar, a military coup has outraged citizens. Some of their elected leaders have been detained and cut off from the world and no one knows if the army will lock up even more civilians. And, Tuesday, President Biden signed three executive orders to alter US immigration policies. Also, a new study published by the Lancet shows that Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine is nearly 92% effective against COVID-19, according to interim trial results.
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