Myanmar Court Convicts Suu Kyi On More Charges, Extends Jail Term To 26 Years

Post created on 12:10 pm

A court in military-ruled Myanmar convicted the country’s ousted leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, on two more corruption charges Wednesday, with two three-year sentences to be served concurrently, adding to previous convictions that now leave her with a 26-year total prison term, a legal official said.

Suu Kyi, 77, was detained on February 1, 2021, when the military seized power from her elected government. She has denied the allegations against her in this case, in which she was accused of receiving $550,000 as a bribe from Maung Weik, a tycoon convicted of drug trafficking.

Corruption cases comprise the biggest share of the many charges the military has brought against the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Suu Kyi has been charged with 12 counts in total under the country’s Anti-Corruption Act, with each count punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a fine.

Suu Kyi had already been sentenced to 23 years’ imprisonment after being convicted of illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies, violating coronavirus restrictions, breaching Myanmar’s official secrets act, sedition, election fraud and five corruption charges.

Her supporters and independent analysts say the charges are politically motivated and an attempt to discredit her and legitimize the military’s seizure of power while keeping her from taking part in the next election, which the military has promised in 2023.

In recent months, her trials have been held in a purpose-built courtroom in the main prison on the outskirts of the capital, Naypyitaw. Suu Kyi has not been seen or allowed to speak in public since she was arrested and her lawyers, who had been a source of information on the proceedings, were no longer allowed to speak publicly on her behalf or about her trial after a gag order was placed on them last year.

The ruling came hours before a Myanmar court sentenced Japanese journalist Toru Kubota to an additional three years in prison on Wednesday on charges of violating an immigration law, the Japanese Asahi newspaper reported, citing court sources.

Kubota, 26, was sentenced to seven years in jail on separate charges of violating sedition and communication laws last week following his arrest in July at a protest in Myanmar’s main city of Yangon.

The sentences will be served concurrently, the junta has said.