YANGON: Myanmar’s ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi faces fresh corruption charges from the ruling junta that her lawyer said Thursday were “groundless” but could ensure she would never be able to return to politics.
The coup on February 1 that ousted Suu Kyi’s government has brought hundreds of thousands onto the streets to confront the generals, who have responded with a brutal crackdown that has left at least 200 dead.
The new military regime has already issued several criminal charges against the Nobel laureate since she was detained alongside top political allies, including owning unlicensed walkie-talkies and violating coronavirus restrictions.
On Wednesday night, military broadcaster Myawady aired a video of a Myanmar businessman confessing to giving her a total of $550,000 over several years.
Maung Weik said he had donated money to senior government figures for the good of his business.
“Aung San Suu Kyi committed corruption and (authorities) are preparing to charge her according to anti-corruption law,” an announcer said during the broadcast.
This is not the first time corruption allegations have been lodged against her.
Last week a junta spokesman said a now-detained chief minister had admitted to giving her $600,000 and more than 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of gold bars.
“Those accusations are groundless,” Suu Kyi’s lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said.
“Aung San Suu Kyi may have her defects... but bribery and corruption are not her traits,” he said, adding that most people in Myanmar will not believe the allegations.
However, a conviction for bribery in a case against her “personal character” could see Suu Kyi “prohibited from taking part in political activities,” Zaw said.
Soldiers and police terrorized several battle-scarred Yangon neighborhoods Wednesday night, as a mobile data blockade combined with an Internet shutdown pushed scared residents further into an information blackout.
“Security forces threatened to shoot” residents if they did not remove the barricades that demonstrators have built across the commercial capital as they battle authorities, according to a doctor from the South Okkalapa township.
They also raided homes and arrested at least 10 people, he said.
In neighboring Thingangyun township, one man said he had heard continuous gunfire for 30 minutes before midnight, adding he had put cotton buds in the ears of his two sons so they could fall asleep.
Even going out to buy food has become a terrifying ordeal he said, with residents forced to move quickly through the streets to avoid encountering patrols of trigger-happy security forces.
“It makes me sad and furious as well... it’s like all our dreams (of democracy) have vanished,” he said.
But “our hatred (of a military regime) is much more than our fear.”
Protesters were back on the streets Thursday, with some in Yangon testing a giant slingshot to shoot projectiles.
Sunday was the bloodiest day since the coup, with the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) monitoring group recording more than 70 deaths across the country.
The bulk of the death toll came in Yangon’s Hlaing Tharyar – an impoverished garment-producing township mostly housing Chinese-owned factories – with the junta later imposing martial law on the area.
Five other townships were also placed under martial law by Monday, which effectively shunts nearly 2 million of Yangon’s sprawling population under the direct control of military commanders.
Any arrests made there will be tried in military courts.
Despite mass international condemnation the junta continues to rack up an increasing toll, with AAPP reporting Thursday that more than 210 people have been killed so far.
The junta has justified the coup by claiming electoral fraud in elections last November that were won by Suu Kyi’s party in a landslide.
Myanmar’s ousted leader Suu Kyi faces new corruption charges from junta
https://arab.news/ytvst
Myanmar’s ousted leader Suu Kyi faces new corruption charges from junta
- New military regime has already issued several criminal charges against the Nobel laureate
- This is not the first time corruption allegations have been lodged against her
Nestle acknowledges delay before baby milk recall
- The company in December recalled batches of its infant formula in 16 European countries
- Nestle said routine checks at its Dutch plant at the end of November 2025 had detected “very low levels” of cereulide
GENEVA: Swiss food giant Nestle has acknowledged that it waited days for a health-risk analysis before alerting authorities after detecting a toxin in its baby milk at a Dutch factory.
But in an open letter to campaign group Foodwatch France Friday it denied accusations of negligence.
The company in December recalled batches of its infant formula in 16 European countries after detecting cereulide, a bacterial toxin that can cause diarrhea and vomiting.
French newspaper Le Monde reported Friday that traces of cereulide had been found in late November — 10 days before the first recalls of the product — because the company waited for a “health?risk analysis” before informing regulators.
Nestle said in a statement online that routine checks at its Dutch plant at the end of November 2025 had detected “very low levels” of cereulide after new equipment was installed in a factory.
It said there was no maximum limit for cereulide indicated by regulations.
The company halted production and launched further tests, which in early December confirmed minute quantities in products that had yet to leave the warehouse.
Nestle said it informed Dutch, European and other national authorities on December 10 and began a precautionary recall of all products made since the new equipment was installed — 25 batches across 16 European countries.
- Response to Foodwatch -
Friday’s open letter responded to claims by Foodwatch France, which a day earlier announced it was filing a legal complaint in the French courts against Nestle on behalf of several families whose babies had fallen ill.
Nestle denied Foodwatch’s suggestions that its product recall had been late without any reasonable excuse and that it had displayed “alarming negligence.”
They said they had acted in December and January as soon as they had identified there was an issue, said the company.
“We recognize the stress and worry that the recall has caused for parents and caregivers,” it said.
“To date, we have not received any medical reports confirming a link to illness associated with our products,” it added.
The company has said from the start of the affair that the recall stemmed from a “quality issue” and that it had seen no evidence linking its products to illness.
French authorities launched an investigation into the deaths in December and January of two babies who were thought to have drunk possibly contaminated powdered milk.
Nestle said in its statement that “nothing indicates any link between these tragic events in these two instances and the consumption of our products.”
