MYANMAR (REUTERS) – Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi accepted illegal payments worth US$600,000 (S$805,000) plus gold while in government, a junta spokesman said on Thursday (March 11).

Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun added that the information had been verified, and that President Win Myint, plus several Cabinet ministers, had also engaged in corruption and the President had pressured the country’s election commission not to act on the military’s reports of irregularities.

The allegations were the strongest yet by the military since it overthrew the country’s top leaders on Feb 1. They remain under house arrest.

At the conference, it was also said that Myanmar’s ruling military council will be in control of the country only for a certain period of time, before holding an election and handing power to the winning party.

Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun mentioned Myanmar’s military was helping more than 1,000 of its nationals, who he said were in trouble in Malaysia, by facilitating their return recently.

He was referring to a recent mass deportation that human rights groups had sought to block due to concerns about their welfare.

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