Myanmar's junta has charged Aung San Suu Kyi with committing electoral fraud during the 2020 polls, state media reported Tuesday, the latest in a barrage of allegations against her since her party won in a landslide.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military coup in February sparked nationwide protests and a deadly crackdown on dissent.

Detained since the putsch, Suu Kyi, 76, has been charged with illegally importing walkie talkies, sedition and corruption, and faces decades in jail if convicted.

Suu Kyi is now also accused of "election fraud and lawless actions" during the polls, state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar reported, without giving details on when court proceedings would begin.

Fifteen other officials -- including former president Win Myint and the former chairman of the election commission -- face the same charge, the report added.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) saw its support increase in the 2020 vote compared to the 2015 election, trouncing a military-aligned party.

But the junta has cited fraud during the poll as its reason for seizing power and ending Myanmar's democratic interlude.

In July, it cancelled the results of the polls, announcing it had uncovered more than 11 million instances of voter irregularities.

In a report on the 2020 polls, the Asian Network for Free Elections monitoring group had said it was "by and large, representative of the will of the people".

"The junta is using spurious claims of electoral fraud as a key justification for its coup," International Crisis Group's Myanmar senior advisor Richard Horsey told AFP.

"Having failed after much effort to identify more than a handful of people who voted twice, it is now going after NLD leaders," he said.

"But Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD had overwhelming support from voters, so guilty verdicts will convince no one."

- 'Deep concern' -

The junta has threatened to dissolve the NLD and last month sentenced Win Htein, a close Suu Kyi aide, to 20 years on treason charges.

Suu Kyi is already on trial for flouting coronavirus restrictions while campaigning ahead of the election.

Journalists have been barred from attending proceedings at the special court in the military-built capital Naypyidaw, and the junta recently barred her legal team from speaking to the media.

She will hear the verdict in her trial for incitement against the military on November 30, a source with knowledge of the matter told AFP on Tuesday.

She faces three years in jail if convicted.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has said fresh elections will be held and the state of emergency lifted by August 2023, extending the initial timeline the military gave when it seized power.

There was "no popular support" for fresh polls, Yangon-based analyst Soe Myint Aung told AFP.

"For any future elections to be acceptable, the junta will need to mobilize more public participation and pro-democracy opposition."

Last week, the UN Security Council expressed its "deep concern" about the unrest in Myanmar and called for an "immediate cessation of violence" and for efforts to ensure that civilians are not harmed.

More than 10,000 people have been arrested since the coup, according to a local monitoring group.

Journalist Fenster back in US after release from Myanmar jail
New York (AFP) Nov 16, 2021 - An American journalist jailed for six months by Myanmar's military rulers returned to the United States on Tuesday, saying it felt "incredible" to be reunited with his family.

Danny Fenster hugged his parents after landing at New York's JFK airport at around 8:00 am (1300 GMT) with former diplomat and cabinet secretary Bill Richardson, who secured his release from prison Monday.

Fenster, 37, told reporters he would briefly celebrate his release with relatives before turning his attention to other journalists and "prisoners of conscience" jailed in Myanmar.

"There are a lot of citizens, doctors, teachers that are in prison. This will be a short celebration. Let's keep focused on what the actual story is here," he said.

Looking gaunt and unshaven after his ordeal in captivity and wearing an orange-red knit hat, Fenster said his return home had been "a long time coming."

"It's a moment that I have been imagining so intensely for so long," he told reporters.

"It surpasses everything I imagined."

Fenster was handed an 11-year sentence last week for incitement, unlawful association and breaching visa rules.

He was pardoned and freed on Monday, a day before he was to face terror and sedition charges that could have seen him jailed for life, and flew to the Qatari capital Doha.

Myanmar's military has squeezed the press since taking power in a February coup, arresting dozens of journalists critical of its crackdown, which has killed more than 1,200 people according to a local monitoring group.

Fenster had been working at Frontier Myanmar, a local outlet in the Southeast Asian country, for around a year and was arrested as he headed home to see his family in May.

The junta said Fenster was released on "humanitarian grounds," ending 176 days spent in a colonial-era prison where many of Myanmar's most famous dissidents have been held.

He was freed with a "view to maintaining friendly relations between nations," a report in state-run Global New Light of Myanmar said Tuesday.

It came following "face-to-face negotiations" between Richardson and junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, who the United States doesn't recognize as Myanmar's legitimate ruler.

"I was incredibly grateful to see Bill and his team on the tarmac waiting for me," Fenster told a press conference at a hotel at Kennedy airport.

"I just have so much gratitude right now for everything everyone's done."

- 'No reason' -

Richardson visited Myanmar earlier this month on what was described as a "private humanitarian mission."

He said at the time that the US State Department had specifically asked him not to raise Fenster's case during his visit.

But Richardson did so, insisting that he was working in a private capacity.

"I don't work for the US government. I was not an emissary," he said in New York.

Fenster described his days in prison, saying that he would wake early and drink instant coffee he made the night before.

Next he would read for several hours before walking outside "in a circle."

He would then lift some weights, eat, read some more and "stare at the wall."

"Every day it's sort of up and down and then you have some dark moments, and then you have some days that are just pretty much completely fine," he explained.

More than 100 journalists have been arrested since the putsch, according to Reporting ASEAN, a monitoring group. It says at least 30 are still in detention.

In Doha, Fenster said he had battled to stay sane while incarcerated and feared his ordeal would not end, while insisting he should never have been detained.

"I was arrested and held in captivity for no reason... but physically I was healthy," he told journalists at the airport. "I wasn't starved or beaten."

Related Links
Democracy in the 21st century at TerraDaily.com

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Myanmar junta charges Suu Kyi with fraud during 2020 polls
Yangon (AFP) Nov 16, 2021
Myanmar's junta has charged ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi with committing electoral fraud during the 2020 polls, state media reported Tuesday. Myanmar has been in turmoil since a military coup in February sparked nationwide protests and a deadly crackdown on dissent. Detained since the putsch, Suu Kyi, 76, faces a raft of charges including illegally importing walkie talkies, sedition and corruption, and faces decades in jail if convicted. The latest charges entail "election fraud and lawle ... read more