Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi jailed for 4 years: Junta spokesman and faces an eclectic raft of charges AFP/STR
06 Dec 2021
YANGON: A Myanmar court on Monday (Dec 6) jailed ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi for four years for inciting dissent against the military and breaching COVID-19 rules, a spokesman for the junta told AFP.
Aung San Suu Kyi "was sentenced to two years' imprisonment under section 505(b) and two years' imprisonment under natural disaster law", junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said.
These are the first verdicts in the trial of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Former president Win Myint was also jailed for four
"They will face other charges from the places where they are staying now" in the capital Naypyidaw, he added, without giving further details.
The 76-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained since the generals ousted her government in the early hours of Feb 1, ending Myanmar's brief democratic interlude.
The junta has since added a slew of other indictments, including violating the official secrets act, corruption and electoral fraud. The Nobel laureate faces decades in jail if convicted on all counts.
Journalists have been barred from proceedings in the special court in the military-built capital, and Aung San Suu Kyi's lawyers were recently banned from speaking to the media.
Her supporters say the cases are baseless and designed to end her political career and tie her up in legal proceedings while the military consolidates power.
The junta says Aung San Suu Kyi is being given due process by an independent court led by a judge appointed by her own administration.
More than 1,300 people have been killed and over 10,000 arrested in a crackdown on dissent since the coup, according to a local monitoring group.
The international community has condemned the violence and Western states have demanded Aung San Suu Kyi's release.
