Myanmar Junta Charges Aung San Suu Kyi For Committing Electoral Fraud During 2020 Polls: Report

In July 2021, Myanmar's military cancelled the results of the general elections, stating that it has uncovered around 11 million voter irregularities during the poll.

Representational Image. (Source: Getty Images)

New Delhi: Nobel Peace Prize winner and Myanmar's ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been charged with committing electoral fraud in the 2020 elections by Myanmar Junta.

Following the general elections in which Suu Kyi's NLD party won by a landslide, Myanmar's military seized the power on February 1, 2021. Myanmar's military cited electoral fraud as its reason for seizing control of the country, reports AFP. 

In July 2021, Myanmar's military cancelled the results of the general elections, stating that it has uncovered around 11 million voter irregularities during the poll.

Since then, Myanmar has been in turmoil as this military coup triggered nationwide protest. 

Violations of the country's official secrets statute, possession of unlicensed walkie-talkies, and publication of material that might "create fear or alarm" are among the various charges that the Myanmar leader Suu Kyi is facing currently, and if convicted, she may serve decades in jail.

According to the state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi latest charges entail "election fraud and lawless actions." However, the report by the state-run media doesn't cast any light on when the trial regarding the charges will begin.

Speaking with AFP, International Crisis Group's Myanmar senior advisor Richard Horsey said, "The junta is using spurious claims of electoral fraud as a key justification for its coup."

"Having failed after much effort to identify more than a handful of people who voted twice, it is now going after NLD leaders. But Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD had overwhelming support from voters, so guilty verdicts will convince no one," he added.

Former president Win Myint, former chairman of the election commission along with thirteen other officials faces the same charges, the report added.

Protest Against Military Coup 

Since the Saffron Revolution in 2007, Myanmar has witnessed the biggest protest against the military coup this year. On March 27, 2021, more than 100 people were gunned down by the military in order to silence the protest.

Since the coup, 10,143 individuals have been detained and 1,260 people have been slain throughout the country, according to the rights group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.