Myanmar's junta has charged ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi with committing fraud during elections last year, state media reported on Tuesday.
It is the latest in a barrage of allegations against Ms Suu Kyi after 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, Ms Suu Kyi, 76, has been accused of illegally importing walkie talkies, sedition and corruption. She faces decades in jail if convicted.
Ms Suu Kyi is now charged with “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.
Support for Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy surged in the 2020 vote, compared to the 2015 election and the party trounced a military-aligned rival.
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 the exercise 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 adviser Richard Horsey told journalists.
“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 aide to Ms Suu Kyi, to 20 years on treason charges.
Ms Suu Kyi is already on trial, accused of flouting coronavirus restrictions while campaigning before 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 new 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 mobilise 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 efforts to ensure that civilians are not harmed.
More than 10,000 people have been arrested since the coup, a local monitoring group has said.
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The%20specs
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How being social media savvy can improve your well being
Next time when procastinating online remember that you can save thousands on paying for a personal trainer and a gym membership simply by watching YouTube videos and keeping up with the latest health tips and trends.
As social media apps are becoming more and more consumed by health experts and nutritionists who are using it to awareness and encourage patients to engage in physical activity.
Elizabeth Watson, a personal trainer from Stay Fit gym in Abu Dhabi suggests that “individuals can use social media as a means of keeping fit, there are a lot of great exercises you can do and train from experts at home just by watching videos on YouTube”.
Norlyn Torrena, a clinical nutritionist from Burjeel Hospital advises her clients to be more technologically active “most of my clients are so engaged with their phones that I advise them to download applications that offer health related services”.
Torrena said that “most people believe that dieting and keeping fit is boring”.
However, by using social media apps keeping fit means that people are “modern and are kept up to date with the latest heath tips and trends”.
“It can be a guide to a healthy lifestyle and exercise if used in the correct way, so I really encourage my clients to download health applications” said Mrs Torrena.
People can also connect with each other and exchange “tips and notes, it’s extremely healthy and fun”.
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
TECH%20SPECS%3A%20APPLE%20WATCH%20SERIES%209
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The biog
Name: Younis Al Balooshi
Nationality: Emirati
Education: Doctorate degree in forensic medicine at the University of Bonn
Hobbies: Drawing and reading books about graphic design
More on Quran memorisation:
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
MATCH INFO
Barcelona 4 (Suarez 27', Vidal 32', Dembele 35', Messi 78')
Sevilla 0
Red cards: Ronald Araujo, Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona)
Like a Fading Shadow
Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)
Dark Souls: Remastered
Developer: From Software (remaster by QLOC)
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Price: Dh199
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What to watch out for:
Algae, waste coffee grounds and orange peels will be used in the pavilion's walls and gangways
The hulls of three ships will be used for the roof
The hulls will painted to make the largest Italian tricolour in the country’s history
Several pillars more than 20 metres high will support the structure
Roughly 15 tonnes of steel will be used
