MYANMAR’S former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, appeared in court via video link today to face further charges as protests against the military coup that overthrew her continue to rock the country.

The head of the National League for Democracy (NLD) had not been seen in public since the army seized power on February 1 and placed her and other leading members of the government under house arrest.

She faces initial charges of illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios and violating the law by holding a campaign rally during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The military junta added new charges today, using colonial-era legislation to ban the “spread of public information that may cause fear or alarm” or disrupt “public tranquillity,” her lawyer Min Min Soe said.

Ms Suu Kyi was also charged with using telecommunications equipment without a licence. The next hearing is scheduled for March 15.

Mass protests have continued across Myanmar since the coup, with at least 18 people killed on Sunday as the military-led junta clamped down on dissent.

The authorities have made unfounded claims of irregularities in November’s general election, which the NLD won in a landslide.

The junta said that they had sacked Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations after he denounced the coup on Friday, but he continues to be recognised by the world body.