DM Monitoring
NAYPYIDAW: Myanmar’s military government leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has said deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi is healthy at home and would appear in court in a few days, in his first interview since overthrowing her in February 1 coup.
The coup has plunged the Southeast Asian country into chaos. Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate for her long struggle against previous military rulers, is among more than 4,000 people arrested since the coup. She faces charges that range from illegally possessing walkie-talkie radios to violating a state secrets law.
“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is in good health. She is at her home and healthy. She is going to face trial at the court in a few days,” Min Aung Hlaing said by video link in an interview with the Hong Kong-based Chinese language broadcaster Phoenix Television on May 20, in excerpts released on Saturday.
The interviewer asked him what he thought of the performance of Aung San Suu Kyi, 75, who is widely admired in the country of 53 million for her campaign that had brought tentative democratic reforms which were cut short by the coup.
“She tried all she could,” Min Aung Hlaing responded.
He reiterated that the army had seized power because it had identified fraud in an election won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s party in November, although its accusations were rejected by the then election commission. He said the army would hold elections and potential changes to the constitution had been identified and would be made if they were “the people’s will”.
