Suu Kyi gets 7 more years in jail for graft
Ruling wraps up corruption trials condemned as a sham internationally
Deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi was convicted of five counts of corruption yesterday and jailed for seven more years, wrapping up a marathon of trials condemned internationally as a sham.
In a closed-door court session in army-ruled Myanmar, Suu Kyi, 77, who was arrested during a coup in February 2021, was found guilty of offences relating to her lease and use of a helicopter while she was the country’s de facto leader, said the source, who has knowledge of her trials.
What are the charges?
The jail term adds to 26 years of prison time already handed down to Suu Kyi, for offences ranging from incitement, breaches of Covid-19 restrictions and illegally owning radio equipment, to violating a state secrets law, multiple counts of corruption and trying to influence election officials. She has dismissed those as “absurd”.
A Nobel Peace Prize winner for her decades-long campaign for democracy in Myanmar, the popular, Oxford-educated Suu Kyi has spent much of her political life detained under military governments.
She led Myanmar for five years from 2015 during a decade of tentative democracy that came after the military ended its 49-year rule, only for it to wrest back control early last year to stop her government from starting a second term, accusing it of ignoring irregularities in an election her party won.
US, EU condemn ruling
The US condemned Myanmar’s junta for handing Suu Kyi a total of 33 years in prison in its final sentencing and demanded her release. “The Burma military regime’s final sentencing of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi is an affront to justice and the rule of law,” a State Department spokesperson said.
“These trials were carried forward with no respect for due legal procedure and are a clear attempt to exclude democratically elected leaders from political life,” an EU spokesman said. He also slammed the sentencing of ex-president Win Myint, Suu Kyi’s co-accused.