Trial of Aung San Suu Kyi: “Myanmar is sinking into darkness”

Almost nine months after the military coup in Myanmar, the country is in chaos. The military junta is brutally fighting armed groups and is bringing the ousted de facto Prime Minister Aung San Suu Kyi to justice today.

The military in Myanmar had not expected such tough resistance. Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur for Myanmar, says: “The junta leadership got grossly miscalculated with the coup, and now the situation is desperate. The country is in a humanitarian, economic and human rights crisis. And the military is doing it only thing it can do, it strikes brutally. “

Tens of thousands of troops are to come

It is imperative that the world act to prevent a catastrophe in the north-west of the country, because, he reports: “We hear that tens of thousands of troops are being sent there – with heavy weapons and other military equipment. And that on behalf of the army command, not only to destroy the people’s defense movement PDF, but also to punish all civilians who are somehow connected to the PDF. “

The troops are said to include units involved in the genocide of the Rohingya Muslim minority. In northwest Myanmar, the resistance against the military junta is particularly strong, the PDF, the people’s defense, and the armed ethnic minorities are fighting – with self-made weapons, with equipment from the Second World War, with donations from the population.

The PDF is active nationwide, but there is still the peaceful civil disobedience movement: “And through targeted boycotts of the products produced by an economic conglomerate of the military, the junta has caused a billion dollar damage.”

Aung San Suu Kyi on trial for corruption

The military leadership has rejected all statements made by the UN Special Rapporteur and described them as far from reality. But what the truth is is difficult to verify. Independent information is seldom available, and the military makes the work of the few free media more and more difficult.

For example, the special ambassador of the Southeast Asian community of states ASEAN was not allowed to visit Aung San Suu Kyi. The then de facto head of government was arrested by the junta on February 1 and has been under house arrest in an undisclosed location since then. Today, Aung San Suu Kyi is said to be testifying in the capital Naypyidaw for corruption in court.

Get political icons out of the way

She is said to have collected gold and cash as a bribe and illegally built a house on the property of a charitable organization. This charge is just one of 11 charges against which she could be sentenced to several decades in prison. She is now 76 years old.

With this, the junta wants to get the political icon out of the way, say human rights activists. Almost their entire legal team has been banned from speaking by the military government, and nobody is allowed to speak to the international media.

ASEAN summit – without representatives from Myanmar

The international community ASEAN started its summit today without a representative from Myanmar. In an exceptionally clear gesture, the other nine members had unloaded the junta leader Min Aung Hlaing because, contrary to what had been promised, he had not ended the violence in his country.

US President Joe Biden also takes part in the ASEAN summit via video. Unlike his predecessor, he emphasizes the importance of the Indo-Pacific region for US foreign policy. A US National Security Advisor met members of the Myanmar government in hiding in advance. He stressed US support for the pro-democracy movement and said the US would hold the military accountable for the coup.

“They just pretend they’re doing good”

As a supposed token of its goodwill, the junta released more than 5,000 political prisoners in the past week. “They only do that because of international pressure,” one junta opponent from eastern Myanmar told the ARD– radio. “They just want to improve their image. But they don’t release everyone – and there are many cases in which they arrest people directly.”

And a member of the armed resistance added: “The worst part is that they haven’t released really important people – like our President and Aung San Suu Kyi. They just pretend to do good and then do worse things.”

Soldiers destroy houses, kill residents

Thomas is a member of the Karen minority, he fights the army with mines and self-made weapons. He sees what the soldiers are doing in the villages. They destroy houses, arrest and kill residents.

“So many are dying. Myanmar is currently in the dark. We all have to save it. We have to be united and drive the military out of politics, boycott the junta. We have to get to the roots of the dictatorship and destroy it. This is the only way we can Build the nation we want. “

To achieve this, many of Myanmar’s residents are willing to sacrifice their lives. You don’t fight for yourself, one junta opponent tells him ARDRadio, but for the next generation, for a future in freedom and democracy.