Suu Kyi convicted of corruption by Myanmar junta court
Aung San Suu Kyi, the former state counselor of Myanmar, has been sentenced to five years in prison.
-
Former Myanmar State Counselor, Aung San Suu Kyi
According to a person acquainted with the situation, a Myanmar military court found former Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi guilty of corruption and sentenced her to five years in jail on Wednesday.
Suu Kyi has faced a torrent of criminal charges since a military coup toppled her administration in February last year, throwing the country into instability.
Some members of the "opposition" government led by Aung San Suu Kyi's toppled administration had their citizenship revoked, Myanmar's junta announced in March.
Ousted politicians created the so-called National Unity Government weeks after the military took power last year, vowing to overthrow it.
Suu Kyi, nominated to lead the organization, has been arrested since the coup and is facing allegations that could land her in prison for more than 150 years.
In the most recent case, the Nobel laureate, who has been detained by the military since the night of the coup, was accused of receiving a bribe of $600,000 in cash and gold bars.
She still faces a raft of other criminal charges, including violating the official secrets act, corruption, and electoral fraud, and could be jailed for more than 100 years if convicted on all counts.
Journalists are not permitted to attend court proceedings, and Suu Kyi's attorneys are not permitted to speak to the media.
According to a local monitoring group, more than 1,700 people have been killed and over 13,000 have been detained in a crackdown on opposition since the coup.
