MYANMAR’S DEPOSED LEADER SUU KYI GETS FOUR-YEAR JAIL TERM IN TRIAL: REPORTS

Mon 06 December 2021:

According to media reports, a Myanmar court sentenced the country’s deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi to four years in prison.

A spokesman for Myanmar’s military told AFP that Aung San Suu Kyi was found guilty of incitement and violating COVID-19 rules on Monday.

Zaw Min Tun stated that she was sentenced to two years in prison for each of the two charges.

Former President Win Myint was also sentenced to four years in prison on the same charges, he said, adding that the pair will not be taken to prison until they are ready.

“They will face other charges from the places where they are staying now” in Naypyidaw, he said, without going into further detail.

According to Reuters and the Associated Press, Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint were sentenced to four years in prison each, citing sources familiar with the proceedings.

The military has barred Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyers from communicating with the media or the general public during her trial in Naypyidaw.

Amnesty International’s Ming Yu Hah said the sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday on “bogus charges are the latest example of the military’s determination to eliminate all opposition and suffocate freedoms in Myanmar”.

“The court’s farcical and corrupt decision is part of a devastating pattern of arbitrary punishment that has seen more than 1,300 people killed and thousands arrested since the military coup in February,” she said, calling for swift, decisive and unified action from the international community.

“The international community must step up to protect civilians and hold perpetrators of grave violations to account, and ensure humanitarian and health assistance is granted as a matter of utmost urgency,” she said.

The ruling on Monday is the first of a dozen cases brought against the 76-year-old by the military since it deposed her civilian government in a coup on February 1.

Other charges leveled against the Nobel Peace Prize winner include multiple counts of corruption, violations of a state secrets act, and violations of a telecoms law, all of which carry a maximum sentence of over a century in prison.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who had been held in house arrest for 15 years under a previous military regime, denies all charges.

Her supporters claim the charges are unfounded and are being brought against her to end her political career and entangle her in legal proceedings while the military consolidates power.

(with agencies)

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