Aung San Suu Kyi, the ousted leader of Myanmar’s civilian government, was charged on Wednesday with illegally importing communications equipment, two days after the military seized power in what the US called a coup.
She will be detained until at least February 15 on charges related to the alleged ownership of illegal walkie-talkies, according to a police statement seen by Reuters. NBC News could not confirm the police statement.
Kyi Toe, a spokesman for Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, confirmed the charge on his Facebook page. He added that the country’s president, Win Myint, who was also arrested on Monday, is charged with violating laws on the management of natural disasters.
The military detained Suu Kyi and other officials and declared a year-long state of emergency, the day before lawmakers would begin a new term.
The news comes when health workers in the country announced that they would not support the new government and wore red ribbons to show their difference of opinion. On Tuesday night, people across Myanmar smashed pots and pans and smashed car horns in a sign of civil disobedience to the military junta.
Suu Kyi on Monday urged people across the country to oppose the military takeover in a statement prepared before her arrest.
The charges against Suu Kyi came when the international condemnation of the military takeover in the country increased by 55 million. The G7 group of rich countries, which includes the US, UK and France, said on Wednesday it was “deeply concerned” about the detention of political leaders and civil society activists and the target of the media.
The G7 also called on the military to respect the outcome of the November election, in which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party won 83% of the vote. The country’s election commission has rejected allegations of misconduct.
Over the past two months, tensions have risen as the military claims the election was fraudulent.
The Biden government’s statement that the military takeover was a coup will trigger a review of US foreign aid to Myanmar, which is expected to receive about $ 100 million in US aid this year.
However, this assistance is largely humanitarian and direct economic assistance, and few of the funds are expected to be limited by the new review.
On Tuesday, Myanmar envoy to the United Nations Christine Schraner Burgener urged the UN Security Council to “jointly send a clear signal in support of democracy in Myanmar.”
Suu Kyi was a political prisoner for 15 years between 1989 and 2010. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 in absentia for the pursuit of democracy and rights under the then ruling junta.
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However, her reputation was tarnished by her failure to condemn the army for a brutal campaign against the Rohyinga Muslim minority population, which many analysts say amounts to genocide. In 2017, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh to name an ethnic cleansing campaign involving mass rapes, murders and the flare-up of homes.
Some Rohingya, who have been reluctant to return to Myanmar, are now even more insecure.
“If we now return to the hands of people responsible for our torture, we will probably have to bear twice as much pain as before,” Mohammad Jaffar, 70, said in an interview with the Associated Press.
In addition to Suu Kyi and other officials, there is evidence that political activists are also being targeted by the military. According to his daughter Wai Hnin Pwint Thon, military activist and former political prisoner Mya Aye was detained by the military on Monday. His arrest was caught on CCTV in the area.
“We have not yet heard where he is, how he is or how long he will be there,” she told NBC News.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this article
Bianca Britton and Zixu Wang contributed.