A military court in Burma (Myanmar) has sentenced ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to seven years in prison after finding her guilty of five counts of corruption in the latest case against her, sources close to the trial said.
With this new sentence, Suu Kyi, 77 years old and detained in a prison in Naipyidó, accumulates a total sentence of 33 years as a result of a marathon of trials for almost a score of crimes charged after the coup d’état of February 1, 2021.
This was the last trial, conducted by a special court located in the correctional facility, scheduled against the Nobel Peace Prize winner, who on this occasion was being tried for abuse of her position for the lease of land and for the purchase and lease of helicopters, among other corruption-related offenses.
The elected leader, arrested during the first hours of the revolt, had already been found guilty of a string of crimes such as violating the laws against the pandemic, illegal importation of “walkie talkies”, violation of the Official Secrets Act and electoral fraud, among others.
The first conviction against the deposed politician, seen by the Burmese people as a heroine in the struggle for democracy and who has already spent years under house arrest under previous military dictatorships, was announced on December 6 last year.
Aung San Suu Kyi sentenced to an extra seven years in jail for corruption in military-ruled Myanmar https://t.co/6xpfbLjikk – source/editor :
— EUwatch (@EUwatchers) December 30, 2022
Suu Kyi’s lawyers, who have been barred by the military junta from speaking to the media, have described all the charges against her as fabrications.
The ruling comes after the UN Security Council last week called for the release of all political prisoners held since the uprising, including Suu Kyi.
The text of the highest decision-making body of the United Nations, which has been the subject of negotiations for months and came out with twelve votes in favor and three abstentions – from China, Russia and India – also called for an immediate cessation of violence in Burma.
The military coup of February 1, 2021 has plunged Burma into a deep political, social and economic crisis and has opened a spiral of violence with new civilian militias that have exacerbated the country’s decades-long guerrilla war.
At least 2,682 people have been killed by the brutal repression exercised by the security forces, who have shot to kill peaceful and unarmed demonstrators, and more than 13,100 remain in detention, according to data from the Burmese NGO Association for the Assistance of Political Prisoners (AAPP).
-Thailand News (TN)
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