Aung San Suu Kyi, the deposed leader of the civilian government of Myanmar, was accused on Wednesday of illegally importing communication equipment, two days after the military seized power in what the United States called a coup.
She will be detained until at least February 15 on charges related to the alleged possession of illegal walkie-talkies, according to a police statement seen by Reuters. NBC News was unable to verify the police statement.
Kyi Toe, spokesman for Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, confirmed the accusation on his Facebook page. He added that the country’s president, Win Myint, who was also arrested on Monday, was accused of violating natural disaster management laws.
The military detained Suu Kyi and other officials and declared a one-year state of emergency on Monday, a day before lawmakers began a new mandate.
The news comes at a time when health professionals in the country announce that they will not support the new government and use red ribbons to show their dissent. On Tuesday night, people in Myanmar beat pots and car horns as a sign of civil disobedience against the military junta.
Suu Kyi on Monday urged people across the country to oppose the military takeover in a statement that was prepared before his arrest.
The charges against Suu Kyi have arisen as international condemnation of military control in the country of 55 million has grown. The G7 group of wealthy nations, which includes the United States, the United Kingdom and France, said on Wednesday that it was “deeply concerned” about the arrest of political leaders and civil society activists and the attacked media.
The G7 also asked the military to respect the outcome of the November elections, in which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won 83% of the vote. The country’s electoral commission rejected accusations of impropriety.
In the past two months, tensions have increased as the military claimed 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 scheduled to receive about $ 100 million in American assistance this year.
However, such aid is largely humanitarian and direct economic, and few of these funds are expected to be restricted by the new review.
On Tuesday, the UN envoy to Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, urged the UN Security Council to “collectively send a clear signal of support for democracy in Myanmar”.
Suu Kyi spent 15 years as a political prisoner between 1989 and 2010. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, by default, for defending democracy and rights under the then governing board.
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However, his reputation has been tarnished by his failure to condemn the military for a brutal campaign against the Muslim minority Rohyinga population, which many analysts say is tantamount to genocide. In 2017, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh to escape what was called an ethnic cleansing campaign involving mass rape, murder and burning of houses.
Some Rohingya, already reluctant to return to Myanmar, are now even more insecure.
“Now, if we return to the hands of the people responsible for our torture, we will probably have to endure twice the pain as before,” said Mohammad Jaffar, 70, 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. Activist and former political prisoner Mya Aye was detained by the military on Monday, according to her daughter, Wai Hnin Pwint Thon. His arrest was captured on the neighborhood’s TV circuit.
“We don’t know 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.