Myanmar's Suu Kyi sentenced to additional 3 years for electoral fraud

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
2 Sep 2022 12:02

The ousted leader's prison time is now 20 years.

Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi (Reuters)

Myanmar's deposed former leader Aung San Suu Kyi was found guilty of electoral fraud on Friday and sentenced to three years in prison with hard labor by a judge, as per a source familiar with the proceedings.

The opposition figure has been imprisoned since a coup in early last year and has already been sentenced to more than 17 years in prison. She denies all of the allegations leveled against her.

Aung San Suu Kyi was found to have committed fraud in a general election in November 2020 which her National League for Democracy (NLD) won with an overwhelming legislative majority, trouncing a party formed by the powerful military.

The source, who did not want to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the media, stated that it was unclear what hard labor entailed. According to the source, deposed president and co-defendant Win Myint received the same sentence.

The military seized power in February 2021 to prevent Suu Kyi's NLD from forming a new government following an election that the military claimed had instances of fraud that had not been properly investigated.

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 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.