YANGON: Myanmar’s junta has charged ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi with electoral fraud during 2020 polls that her party won in a landslide, state media reported on Tuesday.
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Suu Kyi was accused of “election fraud and lawless actions”, state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar reported, without giving details on when court proceedings would begin.
Fifteen other officials — including former president Win Myint and the chairman of the election commission — faced the same charge, the report added.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since a military coup in February sparked nationwide protests and a deadly crackdown on dissent.
Detained since the putsch, Suu Kyi, 76, faces a raft of charges including illegally importing walkie talkies, sedition and corruption, and faces decades in jail if convicted.
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She is already on trial for flouting coronavirus restrictions while campaigning ahead of the election, in which her National League for Democracy party (NLD) trounced a military-aligned party.
International observers said the 2020 polls were largely free and fair.
The junta has threatened to dissolve the NLD and last month jailed Win Htein, a close Suu Kyi aide and high-ranking leader, to 20 years on treason charges.
More than 1,250 people have been killed by Myanmar junta security forces since the coup and over 10,000 arrested, according to a local monitoring group.-AFP