New Charges Filed Against Ousted Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, Lawyer Says

The state counsellor and her government were arrested by the Myanmar military a month ago, as the armed forces declared a year-long state of emergency in the country.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who has not been seen in public since last month when the military seized power in the country, appeared via video at her court hearing, a lawyer told Reuters.

According to lawyer Min Min Soe, the deposed state counsellor requested to see her legal team during the hearing via video link, as she had received an additional charge for publishing information that may "cause fear or alarm".

Previously, local news portals reported that Aung San Suu Kyi was relocated from where she was being kept under house arrest to an unknown location.

FILE PHOTO: Protesters from Myanmar residing in Japan raise their fists and hold a poster depicting Aung San Suu Kyi during a rally against Myanmar's military, after it seized power from a democratically elected civilian government and arrested Suu Kyi, outside Foreign Ministry in Tokyo, Japan February 3, 2021.

© REUTERS / ISSEI KATO

In the meantime, Myanmar is facing nationwide protests, with demonstrators occasionally clashing with police and pro-military supporters.

The demonstrations have continued since February, when the military seized power in the country, arresting Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint, as well as senior leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD), following accusations of widespread voter fraud during the November 2020 vote.