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Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi detained, ruling party spokesman says


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Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi detained, ruling party spokesman says

 

2021-01-31T230807Z_1_LYNXMPEH0U0J8_RTROPTP_4_MYANMAR-MARTYRSDAY.JPG

FILE PHOTO: Myanmar State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi leaves after paying her respects to her late father during a ceremony to mark the 73rd anniversary of Martyrs' Day in Yangon on July 19, 2020. Ye Aung Thu/Pool via REUTERS

 

(Reuters) - Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior figures from the ruling party have been detained in an early morning raid, the spokesman for the governing National League for Democracy said on Monday.

 

The move came after days of escalating tension between the civilian government and the powerful military that stirred fears of a coup in the aftermath of an election the army says was fraudulent.

 

Spokesman Myo Nyunt told Reuters by phone that Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other leaders had been "taken" in the early hours of the morning.

 

"I want to tell our people not to respond rashly and I want them to act according to the law," he said, adding that he expected to be arrested himself. Reuters was subsequently unable to contact him.

 

Phone lines to Naypyitaw, the capital, were not reachable in the early hours of Monday. Parliament had been due to start sitting there on Monday after a November election the NLD had won in a landslide.

 

A military spokesman did not answer phone calls seeking comment.

 

State-run MRTV television said in a Facebook post that it was unable to broadcast due to technical issues.

 

An NLD lawmaker, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation, said another of those detained was Han Thar Myint, a member of the party's central executive committee.

 

Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi, 75, came to power after a 2015 landslide election win that followed decades of house arrest in a struggle for democracy that turned her into an international icon.

 

Her international standing was damaged after hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled army operations into refuge from Myanmar's western Rakhine state in 2017, but she remains hugely popular at home.

 

The NLD won a landslide in last November's election, hammering a pro-military party.

 

Myanmar's military had said on Saturday it would protect and abide by the constitution and act according to law after comments earlier in the week had raised fears of a coup.

 

Myanmar's election commission has rejected the military's allegations of vote fraud, saying there were no errors big enough to affect the credibility of the vote.

 

The constitution reserves 25% of seats in parliament for the military and control of three key ministries in Suu Kyi's administration.

 

(Reporting by Poppy McPherson in London; Editing by Peter Cooney)

 

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-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-02-01
 
Posted
10 minutes ago, KarenBravo said:

Aung San Suu Kyi  lacked the courage of her convictions.

And thus maintained her freedom and safety!

  • Like 2
  • Sad 1
Posted
Just now, KarenBravo said:

 

Exactly! A choice between her freedom and safety versus speaking out against genocide. 

Hard to speak if you're dead!

  • Like 2
Posted
9 minutes ago, Odysseus123 said:

Navalny and Mandela are male-they certainly had/have an interested media following that protected them somewhat.

 

Aung sang Suu Kyi is a female-

Now just let's see just how many female leaders have been assassinated/driven from power/imprisoned in this (wider) region?

..and how many countries are governed by male authoritarian leaders?

 

Indira Ghandi comes to mind, as does Benazir Bhutto.

Posted (edited)
6 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

Hard to speak if you're dead!

 

Martyrdom sometimes trumps words. Jesus Christ could be used as an example of how effective martyrdom can be.

I'm sure there are lots of other examples.

 

Most important though, the military would never have killed her because of the reputation of her father and name. Her father was considered a national hero.

Edited by KarenBravo
  • Like 1
Posted
5 minutes ago, KarenBravo said:

 

Indira Ghandi comes to mind, as does Benazir Bhutto.

And what is their long term legacy?

Posted
1 hour ago, PatOngo said:

Just another third world Asian country under authoritarian rule!

 

seems those countries lack the maturity to have an army.

Should be taken away from them

  • Thanks 1
Posted
2 minutes ago, sweatalot said:

 

seems those countries lack the maturity to have an army.

Should be taken away from them

Eternal children!

Posted
26 minutes ago, KarenBravo said:

 

Indira Ghandi comes to mind, as does Benazir Bhutto.

Here we go..off the top of my head..

Indira Gandhi-assassinated 31/10/1984

Benazir Bhutto-assassinated 27/12/2007

Aung San Suu Kyi-house arrest for 15 years

Yingluck Shinawatra-military coup,May 2014

Mu Sochua(Cambodia) fled into exile in October,2017

  • Like 2
Posted
28 minutes ago, KarenBravo said:

 

Martyrdom sometimes trumps words. Jesus Christ could be used as an example of how effective martyrdom can be.

I'm sure there are lots of other examples.

 

Most important though, the military would never have killed her because of the reputation of her father and name. Her father was considered a national hero.

Jesus,eh?

The plot thickens...

Do you think that they can get him on illegal computer stuff?

  • Haha 1
Posted
42 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

Hard to speak if you're dead!

Or locked up under perpetual house arrest.

 

I suspect that they will try to drive  her into exile-this strategy seems to be the flavour of the month around these parts.

  • Like 1

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