A court in military-ruled Myanmar found ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi guilty of corruption and sentenced him to five years in prison. The case was the first of 11 corruption charges against the Nobel laureate, each carrying a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
The 76-year-old Nobel laureate has been charged with several criminal counts, including voter fraud. However she denies all the allegations. Right-wing groups have condemned the court cases. The public and the media were barred from going there during the in-camera hearings in the capital Ne Pi Taw. Ms Suu Kyi’s lawyers have declined to speak to reporters.
In December, he was convicted of inciting dissent against the military and breaking public health COVID regulations. In January, he was also found guilty of having a banned walkie-talkie radio in his home. Suu Kyi still faces 10 other corruption charges, each carrying a maximum sentence of 15 years, as well as electoral fraud and violating the Official Secrets Act.
His supporters say the junta regime has escalated the charges to get Suu Kyi, considered a symbol of democracy in Myanmar, to be sentenced to life imprisonment.
Civil rights and democracy groups as well as the United Nations have condemned the legal proceedings as a farce. Human Rights Watch has called it a “courtroom circus of covert proceedings on bogus allegations.”
Myanmar’s military regime has denied such allegations, saying Suu Kyi has so far received a fair trial and due legal process. The violent seizure of troops in Myanmar, also known as Burma, last February comes months after Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in the general election. The military accused the victory of voter fraud, although independent election observers said the elections were largely free and fair.