The cases against detained Myanmar President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi will be processed in line with the law, a senior military official told a press conference in the capital city of Nay Pyi Taw on Tuesday.
“Aung San Suu Kyi and U Win Myint are detained in safe places and both are in good health,” Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, head of the State Administration Council’s press team and deputy minister for information, said at the council’s first press conference after state power was handed over to Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing.
There are some affairs that need to be addressed by taking legal actions and the council will not do anything which goes beyond the law, said Zaw Min Tun.
The first virtual court hearings of President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, who were remanded in detention, were held on Tuesday, Khin Maung Zaw, lawyer of the two leaders, told Xinhua.
Aung San Suu Kyi was initially charged under the Export and Import Law, while an additional case was filed later against her for violating the Natural Disaster Management Law. U Win Myint was also charged for breaching the Natural Disaster Management Law, the lawyer said.
The next hearings will be held on March 1, the lawyer said.
A one-year state of emergency was declared in Myanmar after U Win Myint and Aung San Suu Kyi, along with other officials from the National League for Democracy (NLD), were detained by the military on Feb. 1.
Thousands of protesters rallied in Myanmar’s biggest cities to denounce the coup and demand the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The military had alleged that there was massive voting fraud in the country’s November 2020 general elections, which saw the NLD win a majority of seats in both houses of parliament.
Myanmar’s Union Election Commission dismissed the allegation.
Earlier this month, the State Administration Council reformed the Union Election Commission, taking steps to review the process of the general elections.
