A court in military-run Myanmar has sentenced Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s deposed former leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, to three additional years in jail for corruption, a source familiar with the case told CNN, extending her total prison term to 26 years.
Wednesday’s verdict is the latest in a string of punishments meted out against the 77-year-old, a figurehead of opposition to decades of military rule who led Myanmar for five years before being forced from power in a coup in early 2021.
Suu Kyi was found guilty of receiving $500,000 in bribes from a local tycoon, a charge she denied, according to the source. Her lawyers have said the series of crimes leveled against her are politically motivated.
Suu Kyi is currently being held in solitary confinement at a prison in the capital Naypyidaw.
Last month, Suu Kyi was found guilty of electoral fraud and sentenced to three years in prison with hard labor, in a trial related to the November 2020 general election that her National League for Democracy won in a landslide, defeating a party created by the military.
It was the first time Suu Kyi had been sentenced to hard labor since the 2021 military coup. She was given the same punishment in a separate trial under a previous administration in 2009 but that sentence was commuted.
Suu Kyi has also previously been found guilty of offenses ranging from graft to election violations.
Rights groups have repeatedly expressed concerns about the punishment of pro-democracy activists in the country since the military seized power.
Also sentenced Wednesday was Toru Kubota, 26, a Japanese journalist who received an additional three years in prison on charges of violating an immigration law, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told CNN.
That sentence comes in addition to the 10 years Kubota received last week on charges of sedition and violating a law on electronic communications. Those charges relate to his filming of an anti-government protest in July, a Japanese diplomat said.
The ministry said the Japanese government will continue to ask Myanmar authorities to release Kubota “at the earliest possible date.”
Kubota was arrested by plainclothes police in Yangon, where he was filming a documentary that he had been working on for several years, according to a Change.org petition calling for his release.
In July, the military junta executed two prominent pro-democracy activists and two other men accused of terrorism, following a trial condemned by the UN and rights groups.
Sept 29 (Reuters) – A court in military-ruled Myanmar on Thursday jailed deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her former economic adviser, Australian Sean Turnell, for three years for violating a secrets law, a source familiar with the proceedings said.
Both had pleaded not guilty to charges of violating the official secrets act, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years.
“Three years each, no hard labour,” said the source, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue.
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Suu Kyi, Turnell, and several members of her economic team are among thousands arrested since the military overthrew her elected government in a coup early last year, including politicians, lawmakers, bureaucrats, students and journalists.
Turnell has also been charged with immigration violations, for which he faces up to five years in prison. The court is expected to rule on that case on Thursday, according to a second source and media reports.
Nobel laureate Suu Kyi has already been sentenced to at least 23 years in prison in separate cases, mostly related to corruption charges.
She denies all accusations against her.
Opponents of the military say the charges against Suu Kyi are aimed at blocking her from ever getting involved in politics again and challenging the military’s grip on power.
A junta spokesperson did not answer calls seeking comment on Thursday. The junta insists Myanmar’s courts are independent and those arrested are receiving due process.
Turnell, who is also a professor of economics at Macquarie University in Australia, has been in detention since a few days after the coup.
His wife, Ha Vu, who is based in Australia, said she and her family were “heartbroken” at the verdict and called for him to be deported.
“Sean has been one of Myanmar’s greatest supporters for over 20 years and has worked tirelessly to strengthen Myanmar’s economy. Please consider the contributions … and deport him now,” she said in a Facebook post.
Australia called for Turnell’s release.
“The Australian government has consistently rejected the charges against Professor Turnell. (It) rejects today’s court ruling … and calls for his immediate release,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement.
Australian consular officials tasked with assisting Turnell were denied access to the court, Wong said.
Thursday’s sentencing took place in a closed court in the capital, Naypyitaw. The defendants’ exact offence under the official secrets act remains unclear, though a source previously said Turnell’s offence “relates to an allegation that he had government documents”.
An analyst for the International Crisis Group think tank, Richard Horsey, called the proceedings “a show trial”.
“For Sean the hope now must be that – having already been in detention for almost 20 months – he will be released soon from this terrible ordeal and reunited with his family,” he said.
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Reporting by Reuters Staff; Writing by Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing by Ed Davies, Robert Birsel
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Sept 2 (Reuters) – Myanmar’s deposed former leader Aung San Suu Kyi was found guilty of electoral fraud on Friday and sentenced by a judge to three years in jail with hard labour, according to a source familiar with the proceedings.
The Nobel laureate and figurehead of Myanmar’s opposition to decades of military rule has been detained since a coup early last year and has already been sentenced to more than 17 years in prison. She denies all the allegations against her.
On Friday, she was judged to have committed fraud in a November 2020 general election that her National League for Democracy (NLD) won with an overwhelming legislative majority, trouncing a party created by the powerful military.
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The source, who declined to be identified because they were not authorised to speak to media, said it was unclear what hard labour would entail. Co-defendant Win Myint, the deposed president, was given the same sentence, the source said.
Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi attends Invest Myanmar in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, January 28, 2019. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo
A spokesperson for the ruling military council did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The junta has said Suu Kyi is being given due process.
The military seized power in February 2021 to stop Suu Kyi’s NLD from forming a new government after the election that it said had instances of fraud that had not properly been investigated.
The NLD has denied fraud and said it won fairly.
Suu Kyi, 76, has been on trial for more than a year on multiple charges, ranging from corruption and incitement to leaks of official secrets, for which the combined maximum sentences is more than 190 years.
Her trials have been held behind closed doors in the capital, Naypyitaw, and the junta’s statements on the proceedings have been limited. A gag order has been imposed on Suu Kyi’s lawyers.
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Reporting by Reuters staff; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Robert Birsel
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
The latest verdict in the series of secretive trials against the Nobel laureate takes her total jail term to 17 years and comes as the UN’s Special Envoy on Myanmar traveled to the country on Monday to address the “deteriorating (rights) situation.”
Suu Kyi, who turned 77 in June, has previously been found guilty of multiple offenses ranging from graft to election violations.
On Monday she was found guilty of misusing funds from a charity and leasing government-owned land at discounted prices,according to the CNN source.
Suu Kyi is being held in solitary confinement at a prison in the capital Naypyitaw and has denied all charges against her.
International rights groups and world leaders have expressed concern about the deteriorating state of human rights in Myanmar and dismissed ongoing trials against Suu Kyi, calling them “unfair and unjust.”
“The Myanmar military junta’s unjust conviction and sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi is part of its methodical assault on human rights around the country,” said Elaine Pearson, acting Asia director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), in a statement Monday.
“The military’s willingness to forcibly disappear the country’s high-profile civilian leader reveals the brutality that lesser-known political prisoners face,” Pearson said.
Meanwhile, UN’s Special Envoy on Myanmar, Noeleen Heyzer, traveled to Myanmar on Monday to address the “deteriorating situation and immediate concerns,” the UN said in a statement.
“The Special Envoy’s visit follows her extensive consultations with actors from across the political spectrum, civil society as well as communities affected by the ongoing conflict,”the statement said.
CNN’s Irene Nasser and Richard Roth contributed reporting.
Military court finds NLD’s Phyo Zeyar Thaw and activist Kyaw Min Yu guilty under terrorism laws in harshest sentences since coup a year ago.
A closed military court in Myanmar has sentenced a lawmaker from Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party and a prominent democracy activist to death.
The NLD’s Phyo Zeyar Thaw, who was arrested in November, was sentenced to death for offences under the country’s Counterterrorism Law, a statement from the generals said.
Prominent democracy activist Kyaw Min Yu, better known as Ko Jimmy, was given the same sentence, the statement added, providing pictures of both men.
They were found guilty of offences involving explosives, bombings and financing terrorism, but details were sketchy because of the blackout on proceedings. Min Yu’s wife, Nilar Thein, in October denied the allegations lodged against her husband.
Myanmar was plunged into crisis when army chief Min Aung Hlaing deposed the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and seized power for the military on February 1 last year.
The coup prompted mass protests and a civil disobedience movement, and thousands have been arrested in the military’s attempt to crack down on dissent. Almost 1,500 civilians are estimated to have been killed.
The Burmese military has handed out death sentences to prominent activists, Ko Jimmy & Zeyar Thaw. This may be the latest attempt by the military to crush dissent & hopes of the people… but protests & resistance grows daily, so does our determination to uproot this military. pic.twitter.com/0tXA4qpQu0
— Wai Hnin Pwint Thon (@MissWHPT) January 21, 2022
Phyo Zeyar Thaw and Kyaw Min Yu have both been jailed by previous military regimes and are among the most prominent activists to be given death sentences since the coup. Myanmar has not carried out an execution for decades.
‘Tip-off’
Phyo Zeyar Thaw, whose real name is Maung Kyaw, was arrested last November at an apartment in Yangon, the country’s biggest city, following a “tip-off and cooperation from dutiful citizens”, according to the military.
Known as a hip-hop pioneer, Phyo Zeyar Thaw was elected to parliament as part of the country’s move towards democracy in 2015.
The military said he had two pistols, ammunition and an M-16 rifle in his possession at the time of his arrest, and accused him of orchestrating several attacks on security forces.
Kyaw Min Yu, who rose to prominence during Myanmar’s 1988 student uprising was arrested in an overnight raid in October.
Part of the so-called “88 Generation” movement that challenged Myanmar’s previous military rulers, he was accused of inciting unrest with his social media posts.
Aung San Suu Kyi, 76, is facing a slew of charges, including violating the country’s official secrets law.
She has already been sentenced to six years for illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies, flouting coronavirus rules and incitement against the military.
Myanmar’s ousted civilian leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was convicted Monday and sentenced to four years in prison for possessing walkie-talkies in her home and for violating Covid-19 protocols.
Altogether, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, 76, has been sentenced to a total of six years in prison so far, with many more charges pending against her.
Monday’s guilty verdict on three counts comes on top of her Dec. 5 conviction on charges of inciting public unrest and a separate count of breaching Covid-19 protocols. Initially sentenced to four years on those charges, that sentence was cut in half by the army commander in chief, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the leader of the Feb. 1 coup that forced her from office.
As the first anniversary of the coup approaches, the court found Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi guilty of violating Myanmar’s import-export law and its telecommunications law by possessing the communication devices. Her defenders have said the walkie-talkies belonged to her security detail, and that the charges were bogus and politically motivated.
She was sentenced to two years on the Covid protocol, two years on the charge of importing the walkie-talkies, and to one year for violating the telecommunications law. The sentences connected to the walkie-talkie charges are to run concurrently.
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi has been held incommunicado in a house in Naypyidaw, the capital of Myanmar. Amnesty International called the walkie-talkie charges trumped up, saying “they suggest the military is desperate for a pretext to embark on a witch-hunt and intimidate anyone who challenges them.”
The charge of importing the devices — the first of many charges brought against her — was filed on Feb. 3, two days after the coup, and the court proceedings have lasted nearly a year.
The guilty verdict for violating Covid protocols stemmed from an episode during the 2020 election campaign in which she stood outside, in a face mask and face shield, with her dog, Taichito, at her side, and waved to supporters passing by in vehicles. The same incident was the basis of her conviction on a nearly identical charge in December.
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi faces at least seven more charges — including five counts of corruption — with a potential maximum sentence of 89 years if she were to be found guilty on all remaining charges.
Human Rights Watch said the military regime was making itself appear ridiculous by accumulating convictions on flimsy, politically motivated charges.
“The Myanmar junta’s courtroom circus of secret proceedings on bogus charges is all about steadily piling up more convictions against Aung San Suu Kyi so that she will remain in prison indefinitely,” said Phil Robertson, the group’s deputy Asia director.
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi was the Nobel Peace Laureate in 1991 and led her party, the National League for Democracy, to landslide victories three times between 1990 and 2020, but the military allowed her to form a government only once, in 2016.
Understanding the Coup in Myanmar
Card 1 of 5
The coup was preceded by a contested election. In the Nov. 8 election, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s party won 83 percent of the body’s available seats. The military, whose proxy party suffered a crushing defeat, refused to accept the results of the vote.
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi faces years in prison. On Dec. 6, a court sentenced her to four years in a closed-door trial that the U.N. and foreign governments have described as politically motivated. While this initial sentence has since been reduced to two years, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi is facing a series of rulings that could keep her locked up for the rest of her life.
She spent a total of 15 years under house arrest between 1989 and 2010. She later damaged her reputation as an international icon of democracy by not speaking out against the military’s brutal ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims, which drove more than 700,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh.
Since the coup, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi and the ousted president, U Win Myint, have been held under house arrest in undisclosed locations near the capital, Naypyidaw. Mr. Win Myint was also convicted on Dec. 5 of violating Covid-19 protocols and sentenced to four years. The coup leader also cut his sentence in half.
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s trials are being held in a house in Naypyidaw that was converted into a courtroom. No members of the public are allowed to attend, and her lawyers are forbidden from speaking about the case.
On Dec. 30, a police court sentenced Daw Cherry Htet, 30, a police lieutenant and former bodyguard to Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, to three years in prison for violating rules on police conduct by posting messages on Facebook that the court deemed inflammatory.
In one post, she said simply, “We miss you Amay,” using the Burmese word for mother. The former bodyguard was also accused of communicating with the National Unity Government, the shadow government formed after the coup by ousted elected officials and other opponents of the military.
Monday’s conviction of Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi came as the military continued its effort to suppress pro-democracy protests, combat a budding resistance movement and battle ethnic groups seeking autonomy. Soldiers and the police have killed at least 1,447 civilians since the coup and detained nearly 8,500, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a rights group.
The Tatmadaw, as the Myanmar military is known, was accused of committing one of its largest massacres on Christmas Eve when soldiers killed at least 35 fleeing villagers and burned their bodies. Save the Children, one of the groups that condemned the massacre, said two of its staff members were among those killed as they returned home for the Christmas holiday.
Suu Kyi was found guilty ofmultiple charges that include possession of unlicensed walkie-talkies, a source with knowledge of the court proceedings told CNN.
Suu Kyi, 76, was Myanmar’s state counselor and de facto leader of the country before she was ousted and detained by the military in a coup 11 months ago and hit with almost a dozen charges that add up to combined maximum sentences of more than 100 years.
They include several charges of corruption — which each carry a maximum prison sentence of 15 years — violating Covid-19 pandemic restrictions during the 2020 election campaign, incitement, illegally importing and possessing walkie talkies, and breaking the colonial-era Official Secrets Act — which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
She has rejected all allegations and her supporters say the charges against her are political.
Monday’s sentence includes two years imprisonment for violating Myanmar’s export-import law by possessing the walkie-talkies, and one year for violating the communications law. The two sentences will run concurrently, the source told CNN.
Suu Kyi was also sentenced to two years for violating the natural disaster management law, which regards breaking coronavirus rules.
On December 7, a Zabuthiri Court in the capital Naypyidaw initially sentenced Suu Kyi to four years in prison after being found guilty of incitement and two years after being found guilty of violating section 25 of Disaster Management Law, sources close to the trial said.
Later that day the military reduced the four year sentence to two years. The military also halved the four-year prison sentence of Myanmar’s deposed President Win Myint.
Myanmar’s military junta has sought to restrict information about the trials, which have been closed to the public. In October, a gag order was imposed on her legal team that prevented them from speaking with the media.
In a statement on Monday, Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said, “The Myanmar junta’s courtroom circus of secret proceedings on bogus charges is all about steadily piling up more convictions against Aung San Suu Kyi so that she will remain in prison indefinitely.”
“Sr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing and the junta leaders obviously still view her as a paramount political threat who needs to be permanently neutralized. Only that can explain the junta’s willingness to appear as global laughingstocks as they secure convictions in a kangaroo court on the flimsiest, politically motivated charges,” Robertson said.
Dec 6 (Reuters) – A court in military-ruled Myanmar jailed deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi for four years on Monday on charges of incitement and breaching coronavirus restrictions, drawing international outrage of what some critics described as a “sham trial”.
President Win Myint was also sentenced to four years in prison, said a source following proceedings who spoke on condition of anonymity, as the court delivered its first verdicts in numerous cases against Suu Kyi and other civilian leaders detained by the military in a coup on Feb. 1.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the coup against Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government led to widespread protests and raised international concern about the end of tentative political reforms following decades of military rule.
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Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi, 76, has been detained since the coup along with most senior leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party. Others are abroad or in hiding and no party spokesperson was available for comment.
“The conviction of the State Counsellor following a sham trial in secretive proceedings before a military-controlled court is nothing but politically-motivated,” U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said in comments echoed by the European Union and others.
A military spokesman did not respond to attempts by Reuters to reach him for comment on the sentencing, which was widely reported in domestic media.
The military has not given details of where Suu Kyi has been detained and it was not immediately clear if the sentencing would mean any immediate change in her circumstances.
Dr. Sasa, a spokesperson for Myanmar’s shadow civilian government set up following the coup, called on the international community to step up sanctions against Myanmar’s military rulers.
The trial in the capital Naypyitaw has been closed to the media and the junta’s public information outlets have not mentioned the proceedings. Suu Kyi’s lawyers have been barred from communicating with the media and public.
Suu Kyi faces a dozen cases that include multiple corruption charges plus violations of a state secrets act, a telecoms law and COVID-19 regulations, which carry combined maximum sentences of more than a century in prison.
Suu Kyi and co-defendant Win Myint received jail terms of two years for incitement and the same term for breaches of coronavirus protocols. They had denied the charges.
Western countries have demanded Suu Kyi’s release and condemned the violence since the coup in which some 1,300 people have been killed, according to rights groups.
Liz Truss, the foreign minister of former colonial power Britain, condemned Suu Kyi’s sentencing as “another appalling attempt by Myanmar’s military regime to stifle opposition and suppress freedom and democracy”.
Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi attends the joint news conference of the Japan-Mekong Summit Meeting at the Akasaka Palace State Guest House in Tokyo, Japan October 9, 2018. Franck Robichon/Pool via Reuters
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The European Union’s top diplomat condemned the verdict as “politically motivated”.
China, which has long had good relations with the military as well as Suu Kyi’s government, urged all parties to “bridge their differences under the constitutional and legal framework, and continue to advance the hard-earned democratic transition”, a foreign ministry spokesperson said.
Japan, a major investor in Myanmar, said in a statement that the verdict was an “unfavourable development” and called for the restoration of democracy in the country.
‘MOST POPULAR’
Suu Kyi’s supporters say the cases against her are baseless and designed to end her political career and tie her up in legal proceedings while the military consolidates power.
Her jailing had been widely expected.
“I don’t expect anything out of this broken justice system,” Maw Htun Aung, a deputy minister in the opposition parallel government, told Reuters after the sentencing.
The junta says Suu Kyi is being given due process by an independent court led by a judge appointed by her own administration.
Suu Kyi, the daughter of the hero of Myanmar’s independence, spent years under house arrest for her opposition to military rule but was freed in 2010 and led her NLD to a landslide victory in a 2015 election.
Her party won again in November last year but the military said the vote was rigged and seized power weeks later. The election commission dismissed the military’s complaint.
Rights group Amnesty International said the charges against Suu Kyi were farcical and her jailing showed the military’s determination to eliminate opposition and suffocate freedoms.
Historian and author Thant Myint U said military leaders thought their predecessors who introduced reforms more than a decade ago had gone too far in allowing Suu Kyi back into politics and the entire reason for the coup was to exclude her.
“She remains far and away the most popular (figure) in Myanmar politics and may still be a potent force in what’s to come,” he told Reuters.
But Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said the more severe criminal charges that Suu Kyi had yet to face would most likely ensure that she “is never allowed to be a free woman again”.
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Writing by Martin Petty, Ed Davies and Robert Birsel; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Angus MacSwan
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Myanmar’s ousted democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi was found guilty on Monday of charges including incitement and sentenced her to four years in prison, a source with direct knowledge of the case confirmed to NBC News.
The source added that they are concerned for Suu Kyi’s safely. When asked what’s next for the country’s democracy movement, they said that they are “hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst.”
The military ousted Suu Kyi, the leader of the country’s civilian government, in February. At the time, she had urged people to oppose the military takeover.
The U.K., which has previously called for the restoration of democracy in Myanmar, slammed the verdict.
“The sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi is another appalling attempt by Myanmar’s military regime to stifle opposition and suppress freedom and democracy,” Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement released Monday.
“The United Kingdom calls on the regime to release political prisoners, engage in dialogue and allow a return to democracy. The arbitrary detention of elected politicians only risks further unrest.”
Suu Kyi, 76, was found guilty of inciting public unrest against the military and breaching Covid-19 rules in a closed hearing. Authorities in the country imposed a gag order on Suu Kyi’s lawyer Khin Maung Zaw in October, saying his communications could cause instability.
The incitement case involved statements posted on her party’s Facebook page after she and other party leaders had already been detained by the military, while the coronavirus charge involved a campaign appearance ahead of elections in November last year which her party overwhelmingly won.
These aren’t the only charges against Suu Kyi, who was taken into custody after the takeover. Verdicts in two cases related to her alleged ownership of walkie-talkies, allegedly found when soldiers raided her home early on Feb. 1, are due later this month. She has also been charged with a list of other offences including illegally importing and violating the Official Secrets Act.
The cases against her are widely seen as contrived to discredit her and keep her from running in the next election. The constitution bars anyone sent to prison after being convicted of a crime from holding high office or becoming a lawmaker.
The U.S., several European countries, along with Australia, New Zealand and South Korea have opposed the military takeover and called for a return to democracy.
Suu Kyi led a civilian government after her party won in a 2015 election called after the military stepped back from half a century of direct rule. That ended in February when the military detained Suu Kyi and other officials in the National League for Democracy party after a November 2020 election that saw the military lose seats.
A court in Myanmar has sentenced the country’s deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi to four years in jail.
A spokesman for Myanmar’s military told the AFP news agency on Monday that Aung San Suu Kyi was found guilty of incitement and of violating COVID-19 rules.
Zaw Min Tun said she received two years in prison on each of the two charges.
Former President Win Myint was also jailed for four years under the same charges, he said, adding that the pair will not be taken to prison yet.
“They will face other charges from the places where they are staying now” in the capital Naypyidaw, he said, without giving further details.
The ruling on Monday is the first in a dozen cases the military has brought against the 76-year-old since it deposed her civilian government in a coup on February 1. The trial in Naypyidaw has been closed to the media, while the military has barred Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyers from communicating with the media and the public.
Other cases against the Nobel Peace Prize laureate include multiple charges of corruption, violations of a state secrets act, and a telecoms law that altogether carry a maximum sentence of more than 100 years in prison.
Her supporters say the cases are baseless and designed to end her political career and tie her up in legal proceedings while the military consolidates power.
Aung San Suu Kyi denies all the charges.
‘Potent force’
The daughter of the hero of Myanmar’s independence from British colonial rule, Aung San Suu Kyi spent years under house arrest under a previous military government.
She was freed in 2010 and led her National League for Democracy (NLD) to a landslide victory in a 2015 election.
Her party won again in November last year but the military said the vote was rigged and seized power weeks later. The election commission at the time dismissed the military’s complaint of vote fraud.
Historian and author Thant Myint-U said the military leaders thought their predecessors who launched reforms more than 20 years ago had gone too far in allowing Aung San Suu Kyi back into politics and the entire reason for the coup was to exclude her.
“She remains far and away most popular in Myanmar politics and may still be a potent force in what’s to come,” he told the Reuters news agency.
Western states have demanded Aung San Suu Kyi’s release and condemned the violence since the coup.
On Monday, the United Kingdom said the former leader’s sentencing was “another appalling attempt by Myanmar’s military regime to stifle opposition and suppress freedom and democracy” and called on the “regime to release political prisoners, engage in dialogue and allow a return to democracy”.
Matthew Smith, the chief executive of the Fortify Rights group, said the sentencing was “part of a widespread and systematic attack on the civilian population” and called for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.
The group ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) also condemned Monday’s sentence as a “travesty of justice”.
“Since the day of the coup, it’s been clear that the charges against Aung San Suu Kyi, and the dozens of other detained MPs, have been nothing more than an excuse by the junta to justify their illegal power grab,” said Charles Santiago, a Malaysian legislator who heads the APHR.
The regional Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has spearheaded diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis in Myanmar, must “hold the line against this illegal takeover”, he said, adding that Monday’s ruling demonstrates “the junta’s continuing contempt for ASEAN” and its peace plan, which was agreed with Myanmar’s military in April and which includes initiating dialogue between the opposing sides in the country.
‘Farcical and corrupt’
Since the coup, Myanmar has been in turmoil, paralysed by protests and instability that escalated after the military’s deadly crackdown on its opponents. Security forces have killed at least 1,303 people in the clampdown, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a human rights group that records killings by the country’s security forces.
At least 354 opponents of the coup have also been sentenced to jail or to death, according to AAPP, including Aung San Suu Kyi’s aide, Win Htein, who was sentenced to 20 years in jail in October.
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.
