Yahoo Finance Aung San Suu Kyi: Myanmar’s deposed leader jailed for four years
Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been sentenced to four years in prison in the first in a series of cases that could see her jailed her for life.
The 76-year-old Nobel laureate was found guilty of inciting dissent and violating coronavirus restrictions by a court in the South East Asian country.
She has been under house arrest since February when the military launched a coup, toppling her elected civilian government and detaining leaders.
The incitement case involved statements posted on her party’s Facebook page after she and other party leaders had already been detained by the military, while the coronavirus charge involved a campaign appearance ahead of elections in November last year which her party overwhelmingly won.
The army, whose allied party lost many seats, seized power following the election claiming massive voting fraud, but independent election observers did not detect any major irregularities.
The cases against Suu Kyi are widely seen as contrived to discredit her and keep her from running in the next election.
The constitution bars anyone sent to prison after being convicted of a crime from holding high office or becoming a politician.
Ms Suu Kyi faces 11 charges in total, including multiple counts of corruption and violating the official secrets act.
She denies all the charges against her which are estimated to carry combined sentences of over 100 years in prison. The judgement on the next case is expected next week.
A spokesman for the newly formed National Unity Government, a group made up of pro-democracy figures and opponents of the coup, had earlier told the BBC Ms Suu Kyi was struggling.
“She is not OK... military generals are preparing for 104 years of sentences for her in prison. They want her to die in prison,” Dr Sasa said.
Former President Win Myint, the former president and Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party ally, was also jailed along with the former mayor of Naypyitaw, Myo Aung.
The prosecution’s evidence in the dissent charge consisted of statements posted on a Facebook page of Suu Kyi’s party.
Defence lawyers argued the defendants could not be held responsible for the statements - which criticised the takeover and suggested in broad terms that it be resisted - because they were already in detention.
The coup in February triggered widespread demonstrations and Myanmar’s military has cracked down on pro-democracy protesters, activists and journalists.
They are accused of killing about 1,300 civilians, according to a detailed tally compiled by the human rights organisation Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
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