Myanmar’s detained State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has denied false reports that

she didn’t accept armed resistance against the military regime by the shadow National Unity Government (NUG) and the People’s Defense Forces (PDFs).

Last week, fake news circulated online by military supporters stated that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi delivered a message to the public that she denounced the NUG and PDFs’ activities as terrorist acts—the same stand as the regime.

The report also falsely claimed the detained leader said armed resistance is not the right approach and that she wants a peaceful solution, and that she urged the public not to support the NUG and PDFs. The NUG was formed by elected lawmakers of the National League for Democracy chaired by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, along with ethnic and civil society leaders, to rival the military junta after the Feb. 1 coup. PDFs were formed by local civilian resistance fighters to defend the junta’s offensives against civilians.

The false report came amid increasing attacks on the military regime and its assets by civilian resistance fighters following the parallel NUG’s Sept. 7 declaration of a nationwide defensive war against the junta.

And the fake report claimed the message was released by the detained leader through her legal team, which is currently the only link between her and the outside world.

Her legal team had previously rejected the reports, saying that no one on the team had been relayed any such information from the State Counselor. They said they asked her to comment on the false reports on Monday before her weekly trial hearing.

“When we told her about the report, she asked ‘Do people believe that?’ and added that ‘I would never say words which will dismay the public [or go] against their will,” U Khin Maung Zaw, one of her lawyers who was at the brief meeting with her on Monday before the court hearing, told The Irrawaddy.

Since her arrest, the leader has met with no outside persons and was only allowed to have a brief chat with her legal team for the first time on June 7, at the first hearing where she appeared in court in person.

The junta has brought a total of six charges against her including alleged violations of COVID-19 restrictions, possession of illegal walkie-talkies, sedition and breaching the Official Secrets Act. The military regime has also filed four corruption charges against her. She faces a potential prison sentence of 75 years.

U Khin Maung Zaw said Daw Aung San Suu Kyi urged the team to point out that they were not being allowed to defend her in accordance with due legal process.

At Monday’s court hearing, public prosecutors applied to the court to present an additional witness, an official from the Ministry of Communications, and the defense objected.

Source:
courtesy of THE IRRAWADDY

by THE IRRAWADDY

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