Image Courtesy: dw.com
On Thursday, Myanmar’s military junta charged the deposed leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and other officials with new corruption cases, only days before her formal trial.
Aung San Suu Kyi governed the country until the military coup d’état in February. Th charges are one of the most serious of the seven cases against her since her detention.
The Ministry of Information posted on its website stating that the civilian leader was found guilty of committing corruption using her rank. Hence, she was charged with Section 55 of Anti-Corruption Law.
According to Al Jazeera, the Anti-Corruption Commission has accused Aung San Suu Kyi of accepting $600,000 as well as gold from the former chief minister of Yangon region. If convicted on corruption charges, senior government officials face a maximum of fifteen years in prison.
She allegedly abused her power to lease a Yangon property as the headquarters of a non-profit charity foundation, which was established by her in 2012. It resulted in the state losing out on 5.2 million kyat ($3.5 million) in revenue. Several officials have also been found guilty of corruption for granting the land permits.
As per the paper, “The case files were opened against them at the respective township police stations yesterday (Wednesday)”.
The many charges against the ex-state counsellor include the possession of unlicensed walkie-talkies, flouting coronavirus restrictions and breaching the country’s colonial-era Official Secrets Act.
Aung San Suu Kyi along with the senior members of her government were taken into custody after the February coup. Recently, San Suu and the ex-president Win Myint were moved from their residences in the capital to an unknown location.