A court in Myanmar has sentenced ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to four years of imprisonment after finding her guilty of multiple charges including possession of illegally imported walkie-talkies and violation of COVID-19 restrictions.
This is the second round of verdicts against the former Myanmar State Counsellor and de facto leader of the country, who was ousted from power and detained when the military took over in a coup about 11 months ago. She was convicted on two other charges last month with a four-year prison sentence. The prison sentence was then halved by the head of the military-installed government, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
The latest verdict was announced by a Zabuthiri Court in the capital Naypyitaw.
Read More: Aung San Suu Kyi jailed for four years
Charges on Aung San Suu Kyi
The cases are among more than a dozen charges imposed on Suu Kyi since her detainment, which add up to a combined maximum sentence of over 100 years if she is found guilty. These include multiple charges of corruption, each carrying a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.
The latest charges involve violating COVID-19 pandemic restrictions during the 2020 election campaign, illegal possession of walkie-talkies and breaking the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
Latest charges with prison term-
Illegal possession of walkie talkies - 2 years
Violation of Communications law- 1 year
(These two sentences will run concurrently)
Violation of natural disaster management law by violating COVID rules- 2 years
Aung San Suu Kyi has rejected all these allegations and her supporters also claim that the charges against her are political to legitimize the military’s seizure of power and an attempt to permanently prevent her from returning to politics.
Myanmar Military Coup
The Myanmar military staged a coup, declared a state of emergency in the country for one year and detained Myanmar state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and several other civilian leaders on February 1, 2021. The Military government informed that the new elections will take place after one year of the emergency. The military coup and detaining of Myanmar leaders by the military was condemned by world leaders and the United Nations.
The United Nations Security Council had on February 4, 2021 called for the immediate release of President Win Myint, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders arbitrarily detained by the military.
Read More: Myanmar political crisis: Military takes control of the country, declares state of emergency
Reason for the coupThe Myanmar military officials claimed that massive voting fraud had taken place in the national elections that had taken place on November 8, 2020. The military demanded the postponement of the new parliamentary session that was supposed to convene on February 1. |
Aung San Suu Kyi's Detainment: Background
The Myanmar National Elections 2020 was the second democratic vote to take place in the country after the country emerged from the clutches of the military in 2011. Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party had won a landslide victory in the general elections.
Similarly, in the elections held in 1990, Aung San Suu Kyi's party had won 81% of seats in the Parliament but the results were nullified as the military government refused to give up its control and detained Suu Kyi before the elections. She then remained under house arrest for almost 15 of the 21 years between 1989 to 2010, becoming of the most prominent political prisoners in the world.
Since her recent detainment, Suu Kyi has only been seen attending court hearings. She is being held by the military at a location that is not known. The hearings are closed for the media. No outside party has been allowed to meet Suu Kyi since her ouster.
Read more: UN Security Council calls for release of Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi and other politicians
The Military government even denied permission to a special envoy from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to meet her. The bloc, of which Myanmar is a member, retaliated by barring the interim military head of state of the country from attending its annual summit meeting.
The military coup led to nationwide protests in Myanmar, which were quashed with deadly force during many civilians were killed. Peaceful protests still continue but UN experts have warned of a possible civil war in the country.
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