Aung San Suu Kyi jailed for additional six years over corruption

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
15 Aug 2022 20:27

The ousted leader's prison time is now 17 years.

Aung San Suu Kyi jailed for an additional six years for corruption

A Myanmar junta court jailed Aung San Suu Kyi for six years for corruption on Monday, a source close to the case said, taking the ousted leader's prison time to 17 years.

Suu Kyi, 77, has been detained since the generals toppled her government in a coup on February 1 last year.

She has since been hit with a series of charges, including violating the official secrets act, corruption, and electoral fraud. She faces decades in jail if convicted on all counts.

Suu Kyi was sentenced to "six years imprisonment under four anti-corruption charges," said the source, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Each charge carried a maximum of 15 years in jail. Suu Kyi was sentenced to three years for each, but three of the sentences would be served concurrently, the source said.

She appeared in good health and did not make any statement following the sentencing, they added.

The Nobel laureate had already been sentenced to 11 years in jail for corruption, incitement against the military, breaching Covid-19 rules, and breaking a telecommunications law.

Journalists have been barred from attending the court hearings and Suu Kyi's lawyers have been banned from speaking to the media.

Unlikely to ever assume leadership again

Suu Kyi's earlier 11-year sentence meant she was likely to miss elections the junta says it plans to hold by next year.

"Immune from domestic and international outrage, the punishment trials against Suu Kyi and her supporters are designed to erase the democratic past," independent Myanmar analyst David Mathieson claimed.

"Their intent is clear to everyone it seems, everyone but the international community."

In June, Suu Kyi was transferred from house arrest to a prison in the capital Naypyidaw, where her trial continues in a courthouse inside the prison compound.

She remains confined to the jail, with limited brief pre-trial meetings with lawyers.

Many of her political allies have also been arrested since the coup, with one chief minister sentenced to 75 years in jail.

Last month, the junta stoked renewed international condemnation when it executed Phyo Zeya Thaw, a former lawmaker from her National League for Democracy (NLD) party, for offenses under anti-terrorism laws.

Suu Kyi learned of the execution at a pre-trial hearing, a source with knowledge of the matter said, but has yet to speak on the matter.

The junta says it seized power following massive fraud during the 2020 elections in which the NLD trounced a military-backed party.

The EU calls it an "unjust" sentencing

EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell condemned a Myanmar court's "unjust" sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi to an additional six years in prison, calling for her immediate release.

I condemn the unjust sentence of Aung San Suu Kyi to an additional six years of detention, and call on the regime in #Myanmar to immediately and unconditionally release her, as well as all political prisoners, and respect the will of the people.
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) August 15, 2022

He also urged the Asian nation's military junta to release "all political prisoners, and respect the will of the people."

The US, likewise, slammed the latest sentencing as an "affront to justice and the rule of law."

"We call on the regime to immediately release Aung San Suu Kyi and all those unjustly detained, including other democratically elected officials," a State Department spokesperson said.

Political unrest

The coup sparked widespread protests and unrest and renewed fighting with established ethnic rebel groups.

Dozens of "People's Defence Forces" have also sprung up to fight the junta and have surprised the military with their effectiveness, analysts say.

According to a local monitoring group, the crackdown has left more than 2,000 civilians dead and has seen some 17,000 arrested.

Last month, the junta reportedly killed at least 10 people and set fire to hundreds of houses during a raid on a village in a hotspot of opposition to the coup.

According to Data For Myanmar group, the junta’s armed forces set villages ablaze and burned down 18,886 houses within 16 months of the coup.