So far, 264 Myanmar forces, including BGP and army personnel, have fled and taken shelter in Bangladesh amid clashes between the Myanmar military and the armed rebel group, Arakan Army, said Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui, director general of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB). “The border situation is now under control and we are trying to deal with the situation as humanely as possible while maintaining international relations,” the newly appointed BGB chief said while talking to reporters after paying tribute at the mausoleum of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on Tuesday. Police working with BGB to ensure security at Bangladesh-Myanmar border: IGP Until Monday night, 115 Myanmar forces had taken shelter in Bangladesh and 114 security personnel arrived till Tuesday morning while 35 more entered in the afternoon, he said. So far, a total of 264 Myanmar security personnel have surrendered, he added. “We have given shelter and food to them. Among them 15 were injured. Eight of them were undergoing treatment at Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital and Chattogram Medical College and Hospital,” said the BGB DG. Tension at the border: What Dhaka told the Myanmar Ambassador Two people including a Bangladeshi woman were killed following an explosion of a mortar shell on Monday, he said, adding, “Such deaths can’t be acceptable.” Besides, 65 Rohingyas, who tried to enter the country by boats, were sent back, he said. “No more Rohingya will be allowed,” said the BGB chief.

As many as 264 Myanmar security forces have fled to Bangladesh amid clashes between the country’s military and the armed rebel group, Arakan Army. A total of 264 Myanmar forces including BGP, army personnel and immigration officials have taken shelter in Bangladesh, said Shariful Islam, public relations officer (PRO) of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB). The Myanmar forces have entered Bangladesh through Tumbru border in Naikhangchhari upazila of Bandarban district with arms and ammunition. The BGB disarmed them and took them to a safe shelter, he said. Read: No more Rohingyas to be allowed in: New BGB Chief The BGB PRO said members of the BGP started taking shelter in Bangladesh since Sunday morning. A Bangladeshi woman and a Rohingya man were killed following an explosion of a mortar shell at a house in Jolpaitoli under Ghumdum union of Naikhongchhari upazila in Bandarban district on Monday. Amid the ongoing unrest along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border, academic activities of five government primary schools in Naikhangchhari upazila have been suspended. The government has taken the decision considering the safety of the teachers and students. A notification was issued in this regard on Monday. Meanwhile, Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui, newly appointed director general of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), has said, “The border situation is now under control and we are trying to deal with the situation as humanely as possible while maintaining international relations.”   Until Monday night, 115 Myanmar forces had taken shelter in Bangladesh and 114 security personnel arrived till Tuesday morning while 35 more entered in the afternoon, he said. Besides, 65 Rohingyas, who tried to enter the country by boats, were sent back, he said. “No more Rohingya will be allowed,” said the BGB chief. Read: Under-trial prisoner ‘tortured to death’ in Chattogram jail  Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, earlier today,  detailed the collaborative efforts of Bangladesh Police, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and local administration to maintain law and order at the Ghumdhum border in Bandarban, following directives from the government.   The Arakan Army is the well-trained and well-armed military wing of the Rakhine ethnic minority movement, which seeks autonomy from Myanmar’s central government. It is a member of the armed ethnic group alliance that recently gained strategic territory in Myanmar’s northeast. Along with the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army — operating together under the name of the Three Brotherhood Alliance — it launched a coordinated offensive on October 27, 2023 in northern Shan state along the border with China. That offensive has posed the greatest battlefield challenge to Myanmar’s military rulers since the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. The alliance says it has seized more than 250 military outposts, five official border crossings and a major city near the Chinese border, along with several important towns, according to an AP report. Rakhine is where a brutal army counterinsurgency operation in 2017 drove about 740,000 members of the Muslim Rohingya minority to seek safety across the border in Bangladesh. Rakhine is also known by its older name of Arakan.  

Seven more members of Myanmar's Border Guard Police (BGP) have fled to Bangladesh amid clashes between the Myanmar military and the armed rebel group, Arakan Army. With them, the number of BGP personnel who took shelter in Bangladesh so far stands at 113. Shariful Islam, public relations officer (PRO) of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), said that 113 BGP members have so far entered Bangladesh through Tumbru border in Naikhangchhari upazila of Bandarban district with arms and ammunition, due to the ongoing clashes inside Myanmar. The BGB disarmed them and took them to a safe shelter, he said. The BGB PRO said members of the BGP started taking shelter in Bangladesh since Sunday (February 04, 2024) morning. Read more: 2 killed in 'shelling' in Bandarban's Ghumdhum The Arakan Army is the well-trained and well-armed military wing of the Rakhine ethnic minority movement, which seeks autonomy from Myanmar’s central government. It is a member of the armed ethnic group alliance that recently gained strategic territory in Myanmar’s northeast. Along with the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army — operating together under the name of the Three Brotherhood Alliance — it launched a coordinated offensive on October 27, 2023 in northern Shan state along the border with China. That offensive has posed the greatest battlefield challenge to Myanmar’s military rulers since the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. The alliance says it has seized more than 250 military outposts, five official border crossings and a major city near the Chinese border, along with several important towns, according to an AP report. Rakhine is where a brutal army counterinsurgency operation in 2017 drove about 740,000 members of the Muslim Rohingya minority to seek safety across the border in Bangladesh. Rakhine is also known by its older name of Arakan. Read more: What Foreign Minister said on Myanmar’s BGP men taking shelter in Bangladesh

Thirty-seven more members of Myanmar Border Guard Police (BGP) aka Nasaka have taken shelter in Bangladesh border amid a conflict between the Myanmar military and the armed rebel group, the Arakan Army, in Myanmar's Rakhine state. With this, the total number of Nasaka members who took shelter in Bangladesh stood at 95 till this morning (February 5, 2024), said Shariful Islam, public relations officer at Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Headquarters. The BGB disarmed the Nasaka members and took them to a safe shelter, he said, adding that a process was underway to take action in this connection. Read more: No more stray mortal shells from Myanmar to land in Bangladesh, hopes FM Earlier on Sunday, 58 BGP members took shelter along the border, the BGB officer said. UNB Cox’s Bazar correspondent reported that two Bangladeshis sustained bullet injuries during firing between Myanmar army and armed groups in Tumbru area along Ghumdhum border in Naikhongchhari upazila of Bandarban on Sunday morning. Locals said there has been a fierce conflict between the country's army and armed groups inside Myanmar over the past few days. High-powered ammunition and explosives have been used and people in the border area of Ghumdhum have become tensed. Read more: Out of options, Rohingya fleeing Myanmar and Bangladesh by boat despite soaring death toll

Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki on Monday (November 14, 2022) said it is unlikely to see a full-scale Rohingya repatriation anytime soon due to the situation in Myanmar at this moment. "It'll be very difficult to see repatriation of Rohingyas in full-scale soon. Unless you see the improvement of situation in Myanmar, it'll be very difficult for us to see their repatriation to Myanmar," he said. They Ambassador said Japan is communicating with the Myanmar military and Myanmar needs to halt violence, release detainees and restore the democracy there. He, however, said they may be able to start pilot repatriation at this moment, not full-scale repatriation of Rohingyas to their homeland. Read more: Russian FM Lavrov’s Visit: Dhaka to focus on energy cooperation, Rohingya issue Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char and not a single Rohingya was repatriated over the last five years. "More than five years have passed. The situation is very unfortunate. Repatriation is of course the priority," said the Ambassador, adding that they are ready to work with the government of Bangladesh for repatriation of the Rohingyas. Unfortunately, he said, the situation in Myanmar will not allow the early repatriation of the Rohingyas. The envoy said this is a crucial challenge for the international community. Read more: Bangladesh seeks OIC’s help to continue Rohingya genocide case Japan has been cooperative to Bangladesh government and appreciates its efforts and generosity, he added. The Ambassador was responding to a question at an event titled “Meet the Ambassador” held in a Dhaka hotel. Centre for Governance Studies (CGS) hosted it in collaboration with the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Bangladesh. Zillur Rahman, Executive Director of CGS moderated the programme. Read more: EU announces € 3m for Rohingyas in Bhasan Char

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has urged the international community to intensify pressure on the military to stop its campaign of violence against the people of Myanmar. She also urged the international community to insist on prompt restoration of civilian rule, and accountability for violations committed by security forces. "We continue to document gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law on a daily basis, including repression against protesters and attacks  against civilians that may amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes," said Bachelet during a press conference in Geneva on Thursday. Read: I can understand PM Hasina’s pains: Bachelet August 25 marked five years since more than 700,000 Rohingya women, children and men were forced to flee Myanmar for Bangladesh – and Myanmar’s human rights catastrophe continues to worsen, with the military (the Tatmadaw) maintaining military operations in Kayah and Kayin in the southeast; Chin state in the northwest; and Sagaing and Magway regions in the Bamar heartland.  The use of air power and artillery against villages and residential areas has intensified, she said.  "Recent spikes in violence in Rakhine State also seemed to indicate that the last fairly stable area of the country may not avoid a resurgence of armed conflict," said the UN rights chief.  She said Rohingya communities have frequently been caught between the Tatmadaw and Arakan Army fighters or have been targeted directly in operations. 

Soldiers in the Myanmar military have admitted to killing, torturing and raping civilians in exclusive interviews with the BBC. For the first time they have given detailed accounts of widespread human rights abuses they say they were ordered to conduct. "They ordered me to torture, loot and kill innocent people." Maung Oo says he thought he had been recruited to the military as a guard. But he was part of a battalion who killed civilians hiding in a monastery in May 2022, reports BBC. "We were ordered to round up all the men and shoot them dead," he says. "The saddest thing was we had to kill elderly people and a woman." The testimony of six soldiers, including a corporal, plus some of their victims provides a rare insight of a military desperate to cling to power. All of the Myanmar names in this report have been changed to protect their identities. The soldiers, who recently defected, are under the protection of a local unit of the People's Defence Force (PDF), a loose network of civilian militia groups fighting to restore democracy. The military seized power from the democratically elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup last year. It is now trying to crush the armed civilian uprising. On 20 December last year, three helicopters circled Yae Myet village in central Myanmar, dropping soldiers with orders to open fire. At least five different people, speaking independently from each other, told the BBC what happened. They say the army entered in three separate groups, shooting at men, women and children indiscriminately. "The order was to shoot anything you see," says Corporal Aung from an undisclosed location in a remote part of Myanmar's jungle. Read: Genocide against Rohingya: Bangladesh welcomes ICJ's rejection of Myanmar claims He says some people hid in what they thought was a safe place, but as the soldiers closed in they "started to run and we shot at them". Cpl Aung admits his unit shot and buried five men. "We also had an order to set fire to every large and decent house in the village," he says. The soldiers paraded around the village torching houses, shouting, "Burn! burn!" Cpl Aung set fire to four buildings. Those interviewed say about 60 houses were burnt, leaving much of the village in ashes. Most of the villagers had fled, but not everyone. One home in the centre of the village was inhabited. Thiha says he had joined the military just five months before the raid. Like many others, he was recruited from the community and says he was untrained. These recruits are locally referred to as Anghar-Sit-Thar or "hired soldiers". At the time he was paid a decent salary of 200,000 Myanmar Khat (approximately 100 USD) a month. He remembers what happened at that house vividly. He saw a teenage girl trapped behind iron bars in a house they were about to burn down. "I can't forget her shouting, I can still hear it in my ears and remember it in my heart," he says. When he told his captain, he replied, "I told you to kill everyone we see". So Thiha shot a flare into the room. Cpl Aung was also there and heard her cries as she was burnt alive. Read: Myanmar denies genocide, again describes Rohingyas as 'Bengali community' "It was heartbreaking to hear. We heard her voice repeatedly for about 15 minutes while the house was on fire," he recalls. The BBC tracked down the girl's family, who spoke in front of the charred remains of their home. Her relative U Myint said the girl had a mental health condition and had been left in her home while her parents went to work. "She tried to escape but they stopped her and let her burn," he says. She was not the only young woman to suffer at the hands of these soldiers. Thiha says he joined the military for the money but was shocked by what he was forced to do and the atrocities he witnessed. He speaks about a group of young women they arrested in Yae Myet. The officer handed them to his subordinates and said, "Do as you wish," he recounts. He said they raped the girls but he was not involved. We tracked down two of these girls. Pa Pa and Khin Htwe say they met the soldiers on the road as they tried to run away. They were not from Yae Myet, they had been visiting a tailor there. Despite their insistence that they were not PDF fighters or even from the village, they were imprisoned in a local school for three nights. Each night, they were repeatedly sexually abused by their intoxicated captors, they say. "They blindfolded my face with a sarong and pushed me down, they took off my clothes and raped me," Pa Pa says. "I shouted as they raped me." She pleaded with the soldiers to stop but they beat her round the head and threatened her at gunpoint. "We had to take it without resisting because we were scared that we would be killed," says her sister Khin Htwe, trembling as she speaks. The girls were too scared to get a proper look at their abusers but say they remember seeing some in plain clothes and some wearing military uniforms. "When they caught young women," remembers the soldier Thiha, "they would say, 'this is because you support the PDF' as they (raped) the girls." Read: UN court rejects Myanmar claims, will hear Rohingya case At least 10 people died in the violence in Yae Myet and eight girls were reportedly raped over the three-day period. The brutal killings which hired soldier Maung Oo took part in occurred on 2 May 2022 in Ohake pho village, also in Sagaing region. His account of members from his 33rd Division (Light Infantry Division 33) rounding up and shooting people in a monastery matches witness testimonies and disturbing video the BBC obtained from the immediate aftermath of the attack. The video shows nine dead bodies lined up including a woman and a grey-haired man lying next to each other. They are all wearing sarongs and t-shirts. Signs in the footage indicate that they were shot from behind and at close range. We also spoke to villagers who witnessed this atrocity. They identified the young woman in the video lined up next to the elderly man. She was called Ma Moe Moe, and was carrying her child and a bag containing pieces of gold. She pleaded with the soldiers not to take her things. "Despite the child she was carrying, they looted her belongings and shot her to death. They also lined up (the men) and shot them one by one," says Hla Hla, who was at the scene but was spared. The child survived and is now being cared for by relatives. Hla Hla says she heard soldiers boasting on the phone that they had killed eight or nine people, that it was "delicious" to kill people and describing it as "their most successful day yet". She says they left the village chanting "Victory! Victory!" Another woman saw her husband killed. "They shot him in the thigh, then they asked him to lie face down and shot his buttock. Finally they shot his head," she says. She insists he was not a member of the PDF. "He was really a toddy palm worker who earned his living in a traditional way. I have a son and a daughter and I don't know how to continue living." Maung Oo says he regrets his actions. "So, I will tell you all," he says. "I want everyone to know so they can avoid falling into the same fate. All of the six soldiers who spoke to the BBC admitted burning houses and villages across central Myanmar. This suggests it is an organised tactic to destroy any support for the resistance. It comes as some say the military struggles to maintain its multi-front civil war. Myanmar Witness - a group of open source researchers tracking human rights abuses - has verified more than 200 reports of villages being burnt in this way over the past 10 months. They say the scale of these arson attacks is rapidly increasing, with at least 40 attacks in January and February, followed by at least 66 in March and April. This is not the first time Myanmar's military has used a scorched earth policy. It was widely reported against the Rohingya people in 2017 in Rakhine state. The country's mountainous ethnic regions have faced these kinds of assaults for many decades. Some of these ethnic fighters are now helping to train and arm the PDF in this current civil war against the military. The culture of impunity in which soldiers are allowed to loot and kill at will, as described by the soldiers, has occurred for decades in Myanmar, Human Rights Watch says. People are rarely held accountable for atrocities allegedly carried out by the military. But Myanmar's military is increasingly having to hire soldiers and militias due to defections and killings by the PDF. Some 10,000 people have defected from both the army and the police since the 2021 coup, according to a group called People's Embrace, formed by former military and police personnel. "The military is struggling to maintain its multi-front civil war," says Michael Martin from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies think tank. "It's running into personnel problems both in the officer ranks and the enlisted ranks, it's taking heavy casualties, problems with recruitment, problems getting equipment and supplies and that's reflected by the fact that they seem to be losing territory or control of territory in various parts of the country." Magway and Sagaing regions (where the above incidents happened) were one of the historic recruitment grounds for Myanmar's military. But young people here are instead choosing to join the PDF groups. Cpl Aung was clear about why he defected: "If I thought the military would win in the long term, I wouldn't have switched sides to the people." He says soldiers do not dare to leave their base alone as they are worried they will be killed by the PDF. "Wherever we go, we can only go in the form of a military column. No-one can say that we are dominating," he says. We put the allegations in this investigation to General Zaw Min Tun, the spokesperson for Myanmar's military. In a statement, he denied that the army has been targeting civilians. He said both of the raids cited here were legitimate targets and those killed were "terrorists". He denied the army has been burning villages and says that it is the PDFs who are carrying out arson attacks. It is hard to say how and when this civil war might end but it seems likely that millions of Myanmar's civilians will be left traumatised. And the longer it takes to find peace, the more women like rape victim Khin Htwe will be vulnerable to violence. She says she no longer wanted to live after what had happened to her and considered taking her own life.   She has been unable to tell her fiance what happened to her.

As many as 1,096 Rohingyas left Ukhiya camps in Cox’s Bazar on Tuesday in the 13th phase of relocation to Bhasan Char island in Noakhali. The Rohingya men, women and children left for Chattogram from the Ukhiya Degree College field at 12pm. Read: 10 diplomats visit Bhasan Char Shamsuddauja, additional refugee relief and repatriation commissioner, said these Rohingyas are being relocated in the 13th phase and process is on to send others who will agree to go to Bhasan Char. “They are scheduled to reach Bhasan Char Wednesday afternoon,” he added. Read: UNHCR sees clear improvement of conditions, services in Bhasan Char In 12 phases, around 24,578 Rohingyas were shifted to Bhasan Char in December 2020. Bangladesh is currently hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas in camps in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char. Most of them came since August 25, 2017, when the Myanmar military launched a brutal offensive targeting the Muslim ethnic minorities.

Myanmar’s shadow civilian administration called on the United Nations’ top court Monday not to allow the country’s military rulers to represent the Southeast Asian nation at hearings into a case accusing the country of genocide against the Rohingya ethnic minority. Four days of hearings into the Myanmar military’s deadly 2017 crackdown on the Rohingya are scheduled to open Monday afternoon at the International Court of Justice amid a dispute over who should represent the country in court. Representatives of Myanmar are scheduled to address judges to outline why they believe the case that was filed by the African nation of Gambia, representing a group of Muslim nations, should be dropped. Read:Argentinian judiciary to open case against Myanmar military over Rohingya genocide But members of Myanmar’s National Unity Government, urged the court not to accept representatives of the military rulers. “We do not believe that the International Court of Justice will want to allow the military to appear before them as if they speak for the Republic of the Union of Myanmar,” said the unity government’s foreign minister, Zin Mar Aung. “It would be a most profound injustice to the Rohingya if the military were to be both their abusers and have any voice in the court.” The shadow administration said it has contacted the court to withdraw Myanmar’s preliminary objections to the case, but it remains to be seen whether the court will recognize the unity administration. The shadow administration is made up of a diverse group of representatives including elected lawmakers who were prevented from taking their seats by the military takeover. It says it is the country’s only legitimate government but no foreign government has recognized the unity group. The dispute at the world court in The Hague reflects a broader struggle in the international community over whom to accept as Myanmar’s legitimate rulers in the aftermath of the coup. Southeast Asian foreign ministers held their annual retreat last week without their counterpart from Myanmar, who was blackballed from participating but allowed to attend online as an observer. The military launched what it called a clearance campaign in Rakhine state in 2017 after an attack by a Rohingya insurgent group. More than 700,000 Rohingya fled into neighboring Bangladesh and security forces were accused of mass rapes, killings and torching thousands of homes. In 2019, lawyers representing Gambia at the ICJ outlined their allegations of genocide by showing judges maps, satellite images and graphic photos of the military campaign. That led the court to order Myanmar to do all it can to prevent genocide against the Rohingya. The interim ruling was intended to protect the minority while the case is decided in The Hague, a process likely to take years. Read: Rohingya genocide continues after Myanmar military coup: BROUK Former pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi represented Myanmar at the 2019 hearings, but she now is imprisoned after being convicted on what supporters call trumped-up charges. Last year’s military takeover in Myanmar sparked widespread peaceful protests and civil disobedience that security forces suppressed with lethal force. About 1,500 civilians have been killed, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Akila Radhakrishnan, president of the Global Justice Center, said this week’s International Court of Justice hearings “are laying the groundwork for accountability in Myanmar — not only for the Rohingya, but for all others who have suffered at the hands of the military.” The International Court of Justice rules on state responsibility for breaches of international law. It is not linked to the International Criminal Court, also based in The Hague, which holds individuals accountable for atrocities. Prosecutors at the ICC are investigating crimes committed against the Rohingya who were forced to flee to Bangladesh but have not yet filed any indictments.

A court in Myanmar sentenced ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to four more years in prison on Monday after finding her guilty of illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies and violating coronavirus restrictions, a legal official said. Suu Kyi was convicted last month on two other charges and given a four-year prison sentence, which was then halved by the head of the military-installed government. The cases are among about a dozen brought against the 76-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate since the army seized power last February, ousting her elected government and arresting top members of her National League for Democracy party. If found guilty of all the charges, she could be sentenced to more than 100 years in prison. Suu Kyi’s supporters and independent analysts say the charges against her are contrived to legitimize the military’s seizure of power and prevent her from returning to politics. Monday’s verdict in the court in the capital, Naypyitaw, was conveyed by a legal official who insisted on anonymity for fear of being punished by the authorities, who have restricted the release of information about Suu Kyi’s trials. Read: Tortured to death: Myanmar mass killings revealed He said she was sentenced to two years in prison under the Export-Import Law for importing the walkie-talkies and one year under the Telecommunications Law for possessing them. The sentences are to be served concurrently. She also received a two-year sentence under the Natural Disaster Management Law for allegedly violating coronavirus rules while campaigning. Suu Kyi was convicted last month on two other charges — incitement and breaching COVID-19 restrictions — and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment. Hours after that sentence was issued, the head of the military-installed government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, reduced it by half. Suu Kyi’s party won a landslide victory in a 2020 general election, but the military claimed there was widespread electoral fraud, an assertion that independent poll watchers doubt. Since her first guilty verdict, Suu Kyi has been attending court hearings in prison clothes — a white top and a brown longyi skirt provided by the authorities. She is being held by the military at an unknown location, where state television reported last month she would serve her sentence. The hearings are closed to the media and spectators and the prosecutors do not comment. Her lawyers, who had been a source of information on the proceedings, were served with gag orders in October. The military-installed government has not allowed any outside party to meet with Suu Kyi since it seized power, despite international pressure for talks including her that could ease the country’s violent political crisis. It would not allow a special envoy from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Myanmar is a member, to meet her. The refusal received a rare rebuke from fellow members, who barred Min Aung Hlaing from attending its annual summit meeting. Even Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who took over as the regional group’s chair for this year and advocates engagement with the ruling generals, failed to meet her last week when he became the first head of government to visit Myanmar since the army’s takeover. Read: Myanmar military reverts to strategy of massacres, burnings The military’s seizure of power was quickly met by nonviolent nationwide demonstrations, which security forces quashed with deadly force, killing over 1,400 civilians, according to a detailed list compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Peaceful protests have continued, but amid the severe crackdown, an armed resistance has also grown, to the point that U.N. experts have warned the country could be sliding into civil war. “Throwing a plethora of criminal charges at Aung San Suu Kyi ... reeks more of desperation than confidence,” said Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, a democracy promotion group. He said in an email interview after her first convictions that the military “massively miscalculated” in thinking that it could prevent protests by arresting Suu Kyi, her fellow party members and veteran independent political activists. “A new mass movement was born which doesn’t depend on a single leader. There are hundreds of small groups organizing and resisting in different ways, from peaceful protest, boycotts and armed resistance,” Farmaner said. “Even with more than 7,000 people arrested since the coup, three times the average number detained under the previous military dictatorship, the military have been unable to suppress dissent.” Suu Kyi was charged right after the military’s takeover with having improperly imported the walkie-talkies, which served as the initial justification for her continued detention. A second charge of illegally possessing the radios was filed the following month. The radios were seized from the entrance gate of her residence and the barracks of her bodyguards during a search on Feb. 1, the day she was arrested. Suu Kyi’s lawyers argued that the radios were not in her personal possession and were legitimately used to help provide for her security, but the court declined to dismiss the charges. Read: Myanmar public urges gas sanctions to stop military funding She was charged with two counts of violating coronavirus restrictions during campaigning for the 2020 election. She was found guilty on the first count last month. She is also being tried by the same court on five counts of corruption. The maximum penalty for each count is 15 years in prison and a fine. A sixth corruption charge against her and ousted President Win Myint in connection with granting permits to rent and buy a helicopter has not yet gone to trial. In separate proceedings, she is accused of violating the Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years. Additional charges were also added by Myanmar’s election commission against Suu Kyi and 15 other politicians in November for alleged fraud in the 2020 election. The charges by the military-appointed Union Election Commission could result in Suu Kyi’s party being dissolved and unable to participate in a new election the military has promised will take place within two years of its takeover.