Myanmar court sentences Aung San Suu Kyi to five more years in corruption case
A court in military-ruled Myanmar on Wednesday convicted former country leader Aung San Suu Kyi on corruption charges and sentenced her to five years in prison.
Suu Kyi, who was thrown out of power after a coup in February last year by the military, had dismissed allegations that a top political colleague had taken gold and thousands of dollars in bribes. Her supporters and independent legal experts condemned her sentence as unfair and a move aimed at completely expelling Suu Kyi (76) from politics. He has already been sentenced to six years in other cases and 10 more corruption charges are pending against him.
Under this offense there is a provision of maximum punishment of 15 years and fine. If convicted in other cases as well, he could face a total prison sentence of more than 100 years. Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi has already spent several years under house arrest for defying military rule.
On the condition of anonymity, a law officer informed about the punishment given to Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi’s trial took place in-camera in Myanmar’s capital ‘Ne Pi Ta’ and her lawyers, diplomats and people present there were barred from talking to the media.
According to Reuters, a source said on condition of anonymity that the judge delivered the verdict within moments of the court’s opening and did not provide any explanation.
Significantly, on February 1, 2021, Myanmar’s army took over the reins of the country and took Suu Kyi and several prominent leaders of Myanmar into custody. Suu Kyi’s party won a landslide victory in the last general election, but the military says the election was largely rigged.
According to a monitoring group, about 1800 people have died due to the army’s use of fierce force to quell protests across the country after the army took over the reins of the country. Also told that Suu Kyi was unhappy with the decision and would appeal. It was not clear whether he would be sent to jail to serve his sentence. Since his arrest, he has been kept at an undisclosed location.
Meanwhile, Phil Robertson, Asia deputy director of New York-based Human Rights Watch, said Suu Kyi’s days as an independent woman are effectively over.
On Twitter, Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said he was deeply concerned about the punishment, urging that the basic principles of human rights and justice be ensured.
A former official of Suu Kyi’s ousted ruling party, Fo Lat, said the court’s rulings were temporary, as military rule would not last. He said, ‘I don’t care how long the sentence they want to serve, whether it is one year or two years or whatever they want to give. It will not last till the end.
Significantly, the military in Myanmar took over the reins of the country on February 1, 2021, ousting the elected government of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and placing him and other leaders of his party under house arrest.
Myanmar’s military took control of the country for a year, saying it had handed over power to Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing over fraud in the country’s November elections. The military says one reason for removing Suu Kyi’s elected civilian government is that it failed to properly investigate allegations of widespread election irregularities.
In the November 2020 elections, Suu Kyi’s party won 396 out of a total of 476 seats in the lower and upper houses of parliament, much higher than the majority figure of 322, but according to a constitution drafted by the military in 2008. Under this, 25 percent of the total seats were given to the army.
