The generals snatched power and seized elected politicians. But they have yet to cow the public
The prosecution and inevitable conviction of Myanmar’s deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint, its former president, are a show of strength by the military that only emphasises its failures. These two are “hostages, not criminals”, observed Tom Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar. The generals’ attempt to launder the detention through closed court proceedings fooled no one. The repression has only grown in the 10 months since the junta seized power, because it knows repression is all it has.
The military chief Min Aung Hlaing made a serious miscalculation when he launched the coup, overturning the arrangements that allowed the army to maintain a high degree of power despite the National League for Democracy’s electoral triumphs. He assumed the military could return to the old ways, beating down political opposition and keeping the 76-year-old safely locked away. Perhaps he hoped that international reaction might be muted by the Nobel peace prize laureate’s tarnished reputation, after she personally defended Myanmar in the international court of justice genocide case over the treatment of Rohingya Muslims. (Rohingya survivors this week announced that they are suing Facebook for £150bn over hate speech on the social media platform.)
