MYANMAR: A close aide to Myanmar’s overthrown leader Aung San Suu Kyi was apprehended on Friday (today), days after a military emergency that sparked outrage across the globe and calls for the army to hand over power to civilians.
As per details, Aung San Suu Kyi’s close aide of Win Htein, confirmed his arrest, saying he was being taken by military officers in a car from Yangon to the capital, Naypyidaw.
The arrest came after the streets of Myanmar’s biggest metropolis were filled for a third night with the sound of people banging pots and honking car horns, voicing their opposition to the coup.
On Thursday, more than 70 Parliament members of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) also resisted the military, as they convened a symbolic Parliament at their compound in the capital, Naypyidaw, signing a pledge they would serve the people.
Earlier, the army took over the control of the country by arresting Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint and bringing to a quick halt an uneasy dalliance with democracy that had followed decades of oppressive military rule.
Win Htein, considered Aung San Suu Kyi’s right-hand man, “was arrested from his daughter’s house where he was staying at midnight (in Yangon)”, said Kyi Toe, a press officer for the NLD.
The NLD stalwart is a longtime political inmate, who has spent long stretches of time in and out of detention for campaigning against military rule.
Ahead of his arrest, Win Htein had told media the military coup was “not wise”, and its leaders “have taken (the country) in the wrong direction”. In the coup’s aftermath, he told, “Everybody in the country should resist as much as they can the actions they are seeking to take us back to zero by destroying our government.
Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been charged with illegally importing telecommunications equipment over some walkie-talkies found in her home, has not been seen in public since Monday.
On February 1, Myanmar’s army declared a one-year state of emergency and selected a general as acting president of the country, after apprehending a civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other government officials.
The military move came after Myanmar’s influential military prompted concern about a coup last week after threatening to “take action” over an alleged scam in a November election won by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD).
The military said that the voter lists which were used during the general polls held on the 8th of November were found to have huge discrepancy and the Election Commission failed to resolve the issue.
Though the autonomy of the nation must derive from the people, there was awful deception in the voter list during the polls which run contrary to ensuring a stable democracy, the military alleged.
