YANGON: A Myanmar junta court has hit ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi with five new corruption charges related to the alleged hiring and purchase of a helicopter, sources close to the case said.
The Nobel laureate, 76, has been detained since the February 1 coup last year which triggered mass protests and a bloody crackdown on dissent with more than 1,400 civilians killed, according to a local monitoring group.
Suu Kyi is facing a raft of criminal and corruption charges — including violating the country’s official secrets laws — and if convicted of all of them could face sentences tallying more than 100 years of prison.
The charges were leveled against Suu Kyi on Friday afternoon and related to the hire, maintenance and purchase of a helicopter, the sources said.
Former Myanmar president U Win Myint was also hit with the same charges, they said.
In December, state newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar said the pair would be prosecuted for not following financial regulations and causing a loss to the state over the rent and purchase of a helicopter for former government minister Win Myat Aye.
He rented the helicopter from 2019 to 2021 and used it for only 84.95 hours out of 720 rental hours, the paper said.
He is now in hiding, along with other former lawmakers.
A Myanmar court on Monday convicted Suu Kyi of three criminal charges related to illegally importing and owning walkie talkies and breaking coronavirus rules.
She was sentenced to four years in prison.
In December, she also received a two-year jail sentence for incitement against the military and for other coronavirus violations.
The six years of jail time will likely prevent Suu Kyi from participating in fresh elections that the military junta has vowed to hold by August 2023.
Suu Kyi is expected to remain under house arrest as the other legal cases progress.
Journalists have been barred from attending the special court hearings in Naypyidaw and her lawyers were recently banned from speaking to the media.
The daughter of an independence hero, Suu Kyi spent nearly two decades enduring long stretches of house arrest under the former military regime.
Her time in office was marred by her government’s handling of the Rohingya refugee crisis in which hundreds of thousands escaped to Bangladesh in 2017 as they faced rapes, arson and extrajudicial killings at the hands of the Myanmar military.
Before the coup, Suu Kyi was on the cusp of beginning another five-year term as the country’s de facto leader after the National League for Democracy won a landslide in November 2020 polls.
AFP sought comment from the Myanmar junta — which calls itself the State Administration Council.
Myanmar junta hits Aung San Suu Kyi with five new charges over helicopter purchase
https://arab.news/w5242
Myanmar junta hits Aung San Suu Kyi with five new charges over helicopter purchase
- The Nobel laureate has been detained since the February 1 coup last year
- Suu Kyi is expected to remain under house arrest as the other legal cases progress
Indonesia to send record number of women officers to assist Hajj pilgrims
- Women comprise 33% of Indonesian Hajj officers in 2026
- They will assist the world’s largest contingent of Hajj pilgrims
JAKARTA: Indonesia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah on Friday concluded a training program for Hajj officers, a group that this year includes a record number of female guides to help Indonesian pilgrims perform the spiritual journey.
The world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation, Indonesia sends the largest contingent of Hajj pilgrims every year, comprising 221,000 people in 2026.
They will be assisted by more than 1,600 Indonesian officers who came from different parts of the country to participate in a 20-day training program in East Jakarta to prepare them for the roles, ahead of the pilgrimage season in May.
“Education and training for Indonesian Hajj officers … are carried out as part of the operational preparations for the 2026 Hajj pilgrimage,” said Puji Raharjo, director general of Hajj management at the ministry, during the closing ceremony on Friday.
“This program is aimed at ensuring the physical, mental, technical and organizational readiness of the officers in order to guide, serve and protect Indonesian Hajj pilgrims.”
Indonesia is sending more than 500 female Hajj officers in 2026 — its largest group of women guides yet.
“This year, women officers comprise about 33 percent, the highest in the history of Hajj management in Indonesia,” Arifatul Choiri Fauzi, the minister of women’s empowerment and child protection, told reporters.
As over 55 percent of Indonesian Hajj pilgrims are women and most of them are elderly, female officers can help ensure that they are treated with more care and empathy, she added.
Fauzi said: “There are many issues that are more suitable to be handled by female officers, things related to women’s issues, assistance inside the room, or emergencies that concern the privacy of the (women) pilgrims.”
The training program, which ran from Jan. 10-30, was aimed at preparing the officers physically and educating them on existing Hajj policies and mechanisms, while also covering operational case studies and lessons on effective communication and Arabic, as well as simulations of real-life situations related to the pilgrimage.
Indonesian Hajj officers will undergo a round of training online in February, before another session is held with reference to their departure locations in Indonesia.
“Every year, Indonesia sends the largest number of pilgrims in the world. This fact demands us to be truly ready and organized with officers who are dependable. Hajj officers fill a strategic role, you represent the state for the pilgrims, (and) you represent the state in front of the world,” Minister of Hajj and Umrah Mochamad Irfan Yusuf said while addressing this year’s batch of Hajj officers.
“This training and guidance program is therefore very important, as this is where you all prepare in order to understand the extent of your duties, strengthen coordination and come together in unity and discipline for the mission ahead.”
