Kremlin says 'concerned' about civilian casualties in Myanmar
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The country has been in crisis since the army ousted Suu Kyi’s elected government in a February 1 coup, detained her and officials of her National League for Democracy party and set up a ruling junta of generals
The Kremlin said Friday it was "concerned" about rising civilian casualties in Myanmar, where at least 70 people have been killed in protests against a military coup since February, according to the UN.
"In our view, the situation is alarming. And we are concerned by information coming from there about a growing number of civilian casualties," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Myanmar activists held more rallies against the junta on Friday as South Korea said it would suspend defence exchanges and reconsider development aid to the Southeast Asian nation because of the military's harsh crackdown on the protests.
Friday's rallies came a day after a rights group said security forces killed 12 protesters and as the lawyer of deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi ridiculed new bribery allegations against her.
The deaths took to more than 70 the number of protesters killed since the coup, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) advocacy group said.
The country has been in crisis since the army ousted Suu Kyi’s elected government in a February 1 coup, detained her and officials of her National League for Democracy party and set up a ruling junta of generals.
Junta spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun said on Thursday Suu Kyi had accepted illegal payments worth $600,000, as well as gold, while in government, according to a complaint by Phyo Mien Thein, a former chief minister of Yangon.
Adding corruption charges to the accusations facing Suu Kyi, 75, could bring her a harsher penalty. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate now faces four comparatively minor charges, such as illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios and flouting coronavirus curbs.
"This accusation is the most hilarious joke," Suu Kyi's lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said in a statement posted on social media. "She might have other weaknesses but she doesn't have weakness in moral principle."
Thursday was one of the deadliest days since the military took power. Among the dead were eight people killed in the central town of Myaing when security forces fired on a protest, the AAPP said.