Aung San Suu Kyi, the winner of Myanmar’s elections in November last year, has been seen for the first time since she was detained in a military coup on 1 February. Appearing via video link at the court in the capital Nay Pyi Taw, the ousted leader appeared to be in “good health” and asked to see her legal team, her lawyers said. It is unclear where she has been held over the past month.
Two new charges were announced against Ms Suu Kyi. She originally faced two charges of illegally importing walkie talkies and violating Myanmar's natural disaster law, but in two further charges added on Monday she was accused of using illegal communication equipment and causing “fear and alarm”. The initial charges carried sentences of up to three years in jail.
Meanwhile, protesters took to the streets again on Monday despite Sunday seeing the deadliest day yet with 18 people killed.
The deaths came as the military and police ramped up their response to demonstrations across the country over the weekend, firing into the crowds.
Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, Archbishop of Yangon, noted on last Sunday’s Feast of the Transfiguration that the Gospel, "is so current that it reflects the events of these days” and he asked: “What transfiguration are we looking for in Myanmar today?” He urged a peaceful transformation through “reconciliation and dialogue”.
Bishop Alexander Pyone Cho of Pyay diocese, said: “We are living in the time of Lent, in which every Christian is invited to use the weapons of prayer, fasting and charity; this is the path that we will follow as Christians, asking God for a peaceful solution to the crisis the country is experiencing.”
Christians have been heavily involved in the nonviolent civil disobedience movement but many saw bullets, stun grenades and teargas used against them last weekend. A video went viral last Sunday of a religious sister who took to the streets of Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State in the north, kneeling before a line of police officers, pleading for restraint in dealing with young demonstrators protesting peacefully.
Sr Ann Nu Thawng of the Congregation of St Francis Xavier did appear to stun the police, and more than 100 demonstrators were able to find shelter in her monastery, possibly saving them beatings and arrests by the police.
Joseph Kung Za Hmung, a lay Catholic and editor of the Gloria News Journal, the first Catholic online newspaper in Myanmar, said: “The action of the nun and the response of the police who, upon seeing the nun's plea, stopped, surprised many of us.”
Ms Suu Kyi's popularity has soared in Myanmar since her arrest, although her international reputation was damaged by allegations that she turned a blind eye to ethnic cleansing of the Muslim minority Rohingya community.
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