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Two men charged for obscene rant against Suu Kyi

The National League for Democracy (NLD) in Naypyidaw has pressed charges against two local villagers accused of insulting the party’s chairperson Aung San Suu Kyi in a drunken, obscenity-laced rant.

The men, Htay Myint and Aung Myint Than of Letha, a village in Naypyidaw’s Zeyathiri Township, allegedly shouted profanities against the state counsellor during a drinking session two weeks ago, according to local NLD member Thet Htwe.

In a formal complaint to police, Thet Htwe said that at around 11pm on 22 September, the two men called Suu Kyi an “[expletive] hag” who deserved to be murdered.

During an apparent bout of alcohol-fueled rage, the two men allegedly blamed the NLD leader for the hike in commodity costs since the party assumed power earlier this year.

The complaint filed by Thet Htwe recounts the words used by the accused in explicit detail.

“Commodity prices have gone up since this hag came to power. You [expletive] hag. What are your [expletive] degrees for? How [expletive] useless you are. The whole country is in poverty because of this hag — she deserves to be murdered and we don’t give damn if we’re sent to the gallows because of this,” the complaint quoted the men as saying.

Thet Htwe told DVB that it took some time to establish the identity of the two because the incident took place late at night on a dark highway.

“We couldn’t immediately identify the cuplrits as it was a dark night, but now that we’ve established their identities we are taking legal action against them,” he said.

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Charges were laid against the men at the police station in Naypyidaw’s Yezin town under three articles of the Penal Code articles: 249 for obscene language, 500 for defamation and 505(b) for causing public alarm.

Senior leaders, including Suu Kyi, have faced similar attacks in the past, although previous cases of criminal charges being laid have involved the use of social media.

Last year, a member of the then ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party was charged with defamation under Article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Act for posting an offensive image of Suu Kyi on Facebook.

Earlier this year, a man was charged under the same law for insulting Burma’s military chief and the country’s former president on Facebook.

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