Skirmishes grow in Myanmar as Aung San’s trial begins next week
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Alaina
- . June 7, 2021
- . Update: June 9, 2021 6:47 pm
Skirmishes between Myanmar’s Junta and villagers armed with crossbows and catapults in the Ayeyarwady river delta region has resulted in about 20 people being killed.
Junta’s mouthpiece state television, on the other hand, reported that three “terrorists” had been killed and two were arrested as security forces went to the village of Hlayswe to arrest a man allegedly plotting against the state.
On the other hand, the trial of deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi is set to begin next week. The Nobel laureate is facing a raft of criminal charges that includes possessing unlicensed walkie-talkies and not taking coronavirus restrictions into account. Her trial is to start on June 14 and is to wrap up by July 26, her legal team said.
Furthermore, representatives from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) met Myanmar’s Junta Chief as the top general reiterated that he would only hold fresh elections in the coup-stricken country after it had returned to “normal”. Brunei’s junior minister for foreign affairs, Erywan Pehin Yusof, and Asean’s Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi had discussions with the Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing.
The general said the junta would carry out fresh elections only when “the situation returned to normal”. The junta previously had said that it would hold elections in two years. Asean has carried out several diplomatic efforts to help the crisis in Myanmar ease up but the regional bloc is not best known for its diplomatic clout.
The country has been in a state of chaos and its economy has been paralysed since the military ousted Suu Kyi’s government in February. The government was accused of fraud during last year’s elections.
So far, more than 800 people have been killed in a brutal military crackdown on all the dissenting voices. As per a local monitoring group, fighting is now expected to flare up between several ethnic rebel groups.
