24th-25th May, 2021 #day113 #day114

 

Aung San Suu Kyi has appeared in person for the first time since she was put under house arrest on 1 February. She was arraigned by the junta in a special court together with President Win Myint and Naypyitaw mayor Myo Aung in Naypyidaw on May 24. Some images of the trial were later broadcasted on the junta-run television. Many netizens responded by showing anger and regret after seeing these images. Aung San Suu Kyi is being prosecuted in six counts. During a 30-minute meeting with her lawyers before the trial, she said that the NLD party will endure as long as people support it. Her lawyer said she seems to be unaware about the situation outside as she has been denied accessing news. The junta-appointed election body has threatened to dissolve the NLD last week.

The junta abducted Danny Fenster, an American journalist and managing editor of a local news outlet Frontier Myanmar magazine, at Yangon airport while trying to leave Myanmar, Frontier wrote on its social media page yesterday. He also previously worked for Myanmar Now, a popular news outlet in the country. Three people, including the bride, were killed when a parcel bomb exploded at a wedding in Yangon’s Thingangyun Township. Some locals told RFA that the residents of the house are military informers and members of a notorious 969 Buddhist nationalist movement.

According to the Kantarawaddy Times, the KPDF, which has been fighting between the junta troops in Karenni (Kayah) State, announced that an army tank and infantry had been bombed on Ngwe Taung Dam Road yesterday. Up to two tanks were reportedly destroyed today, but no reports have been confirmed yet. The townships affected by the shootings are only 180 miles from Myanmar’s administrative capital, Naypyidaw. As a result of the three-day armed clashes, about 20,000 people have been displaced from more than 40 villages in Karenni State, according to Myanmar Now. At around 1 am on 24 May, an artillery attack killed four and injured eight villagers at church in Kayan Thayar village, Loikaw Township, locals told Myanmar Now. Today, heavy artillery fire destroyed several houses in Demoso, Khit Thit Media reported.

The KPDF, which seized a police post in Demoso Township on May 23, displayed weapons used by its members on social media. The weapons include not only handmade rifles but also assault rifles such as the AK 47 and M16. The group has been praised on social media as the most well-armed PDF fighting the military. The KPDF seems to be strategically organized as they were able to carry out attacks against the junta troops from the border of Shan State to Loikaw, the capital of Karenni State.

Czech Foreign Minister Jakup Kulhánek held an online meeting with NUG Foreign Minister Zin Mar Aung today, according to Zin Mar Aung's social media site. The Czech Republic became the first foreign government to officially meet the NUG. About the same time as the Myanmar’s 8888 uprising, the Czech Republic went through the Velvet revolution against its communist government in 1989 and became a democracy. Czech President Milos Zeman is also a close friend of Aung San Suu Kyi. The NUG's Deputy Minister of Human Rights told DVB that about 80 percent of the preparations for filing a lawsuit against the junta in international courts have been completed. The Justice for Myanmar announced that the junta’s fighter jets used Russian-made AP-T 23 mm on-board cannons during airstrikes in Karen State on April and claimed that its use in attacking civilians is clearly war crimes.