Myanmar: Suu Kyi aide arrested as outrage grows over coup

A key aide to ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested Friday, days after a coup that has sparked outrage and calls by US President Joe Biden for the generals to relinquish power.

The arrest came after the streets of Myanmar’s biggest city filled for a third night with people banging pots and honking car horns, voicing their opposition to Monday’s coup.

On Friday dozens of teachers at Yangon’s Dagon University staged a rally where displayed a three-finger salute borrowed from Hong Kong and Thailand’s democracy movements, and sang a popular revolution song.

The military detained de facto leader Suu Kyi and president Win Myint early Monday, ending the country’s 10-year dalliance with democracy that had followed decades of oppressive junta rule.

Win Htein, considered Suu Kyi’s right-hand man, was arrested at his daughter’s house, said Kyi Toe, a press officer for the National League of Democracy.

The 79-year-old NLD stalwart has spent long stretches in and out for detention for campaigning against military rule.

Ahead of his arrest, Win Htein told local media that the military putsch was “not wise”, and that its leaders had taken the country “in the wrong direction”.

“Everyone in the country should oppose as much as they can the actions they are seeking to take us back to zero by destroying our government,” he told Frontier Myanmar in the coup’s aftermath.

Suu Kyi has not been seen in public since Monday.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a Yangon-based group that monitors political arrests in Myanmar, more than 130 officials and lawmakers have been detained in relation to the coup.

At least 14 activists and prominent pro-democracy figures have also been arrested, AAPP said.

On Thursday, the nephew of filmmaker Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi — who has previously been jailed for criticising the military — confirmed his outspoken uncle had been picked up on the morning of the coup.