Suu Kyi faces new charges as date set for first verdict

YANGON • Myanmar's military authorities yesterday said detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be prosecuted for electoral fraud and abuse of power - the same day a judge set a date for delivering the first verdict in her incitement trial.

According to the announcement in state media, she was one of 16 people, mostly former election commissioners, accused of involvement in "electoral fraud and lawless actions" - some of which involved threatening local officials.

Ms Suu Kyi, who was arrested hours before the military's Feb 1 coup, is facing 11 criminal cases with maximum sentences that total more than a century in jail. Those include corruption and violating the Official Secrets Act.

She appeared in court in the capital Naypyitaw yesterday, during which a Nov 30 date was set for delivering the first verdict in the cases against her, on the charge of incitement, said a source with knowledge of the proceedings.

That case alleges that the Nobel Peace Prize winner and deposed president Win Myint were involved in the dissemination, in the days after the coup, of an unsigned letter bearing their names, which urged foreign countries not to recognise the junta.

The two have denied involvement because they were being held incommunicado at the time.

Their trials are being held behind closed doors and defence lawyers, previously the only source of information on the proceedings, are currently the subjects of a gag order.

The military said it took power because its complaints of fraud by Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which won last year's election in a landslide, were being ignored by the election commission. The NLD says it won fairly.

REUTERS