Myanmar 2021 coup

On 1 February 2021, Myanmar's armed forces (the Tatmadaw), led by Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, detained State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint, and other senior figures of the National League for Democracy (NLD). The military declared a one-year state of emergency, citing alleged fraud in the November 2020 general election, in which the NLD had won a decisive majority. Power was transferred to a State Administration Council (SAC) chaired by Min Aung Hlaing.

The coup ended a decade of partial civilian rule that began with the 2011 transition from direct military government. It triggered a nationwide Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), mass protests, and a violent crackdown by security forces that killed thousands of civilians, according to monitoring groups such as the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). Ousted NLD legislators formed the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) and later the National Unity Government (NUG) in April 2021, which declared a "people's defensive war" and aligned with newly formed People's Defence Forces (PDFs) and several ethnic armed organisations.

Aung San Suu Kyi was tried in closed proceedings on charges ranging from corruption to violations of the Official Secrets Act, receiving sentences totalling decades in prison. The state of emergency has been repeatedly extended beyond its original 2022 expiry.

Internationally, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution in June 2021 calling for an arms embargo. ASEAN adopted a Five-Point Consensus in April 2021, which the junta has largely ignored, prompting ASEAN to bar Myanmar's political representatives from high-level summits. The United States, United Kingdom, European Union, and Canada imposed targeted sanctions on SAC members and military-linked conglomerates MEHL and MEC. China and Russia have continued engagement with the SAC, blocking stronger UN Security Council action.