Myanmar junta court jails Suu Kyi for six years for corruption

Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi attends Invest Myanmar in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, January 28, 2019.

FILE PHOTO: Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi attends Invest Myanmar in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, January 28, 2019. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo

Yangon, Myanmar — A Myanmar junta court jailed ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi for six years for corruption on Monday, according to a source close to the case.

Suu Kyi was sentenced to “six years imprisonment under four anti-corruption charges,” said the source, who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

Suu Kyi has been in military custody since a coup ousted her government in February last year, plunging the Southeast Asian nation into turmoil.

She appeared in good health and did not make any statement following her latest sentencing, the source added.

The Nobel laureate, 77, has already been sentenced to 11 years in jail for corruption, incitement against the military, breaching Covid-19 rules and breaking a telecommunications law.

She still faces a raft of other criminal charges, including violating the official secrets act, corruption and electoral fraud, and could be jailed for decades if convicted on all counts.

Journalists have been barred from attending the court hearings and Suu Kyi’s lawyers have been banned from speaking to the media.

More than 2,000 people have been killed and more than 17,000 arrested in a crackdown on dissent since the coup, according to local monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

RELATED STORIES:

The trials of Aung San Suu Kyi, from heroine to villain to convict

Myanmar’s Suu Kyi moved to solitary confinement in prison

Read more...