Aung San Suu Kyi sentenced to 4 more years in jail

Nay Pyi Taw: Aung San Suu Kyi, the former de facto leader of Myanmar who was ousted during the February 1, 2021 military coup, has been sentenced to four more years in prison after her first conviction last month during which she was given a reduced term of two years.

According to a report in the BBC, Monday’s convictions stem from when soldiers searched her house on the day of the coup and discovered walkie-talkies.

Monday’s trial which took place here was closed to the media and Suu Kyi’s lawyers have been barred from communicating with the media and public.

Last month, Suu Kyi and deposed President Win Myint were initially sentenced to four years in prison after they were found guilty on charges of “inciting dissent and breaking Covid rules” under thr Natural Disaster Management Law.

Both their prison terms were later halved to two years.

Suu Kyi, the 76-year-old former State Councillor, faces a total of 11 charges, such as violating the Official Secrets Act. She has denied them all.

If convicted of all the charges, the Nobel laureate could spend the rest of her life behind bars.

Following the coup which toppled her National League for Democracy (NLD) government, she has been under house arrest in an undisclosed location.

The coup was staged after the military alleged massive voting fraud in the November 2020 general elections, which saw the NLD win a majority of seats in both houses of Parliament.

Reacting to Monday’s sentencing, Human Rights Watch said the proceedings were “courtroom circus of secret proceedings on bogus charges… so that (Suu Kyi) will remain in prison indefinitely”, the BBC reported.

The coup triggered widespread demonstrations and Myanmar’s military has cracked down on pro-democracy protesters, activists and journalists, according to rights groups.

Suu Kyi is one of more than 10,600 people to have been arrested by the junta since February, and at least 1,303 others killed in the demonstrations, according to the monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.IANS