Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, Aung San Suu Kyi is the leader of the party that ruled the country until the military coup.
A Myanmar court sentenced Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday (27.Apr.2022). She was tried for a crime of corruption and will have to serve a sentence of 5 years in prison.
Suu Kyi was accused of receiving US$600,000 and 7 gold bars in 2017 and 2018 from Phyo Min Thein, former chief minister of Yangon, the country’s largest city, and a member of his political party, the NLD (National League for Democracy).
Late last year, before they were banned from speaking, their lawyers classified the charges as “absurd”.
The activist is known for having received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. The NLD, the party she leads, ruled Myanmar until the military coup in January last year.
Another 9 lawsuits against Suu Kyi are being tried under the Anti-Corruption Law. The charges range from buying and leasing a helicopter by a former minister of his party and embezzling money intended for charity, to using his position to obtain undue advantages in the rent of a property that would house a foundation named after his mother. .
Suu Kyi has already been sentenced to 6 years in prison in other cases. The maximum penalty provided for in the Anti-Corruption Law is 15 years in prison and a fine.
In addition, Burmese politics are also being tried for violation of the Official Secrets Act, with a maximum sentence of 14 years, and for electoral fraud, with a maximum sentence of 3 years in prison.
The activist has spent years in detention for defying the military regime.
The trial of this 4th (26.Apr), held in the capital Naypyitaw, was closed to the media and spectators. According to APthe verdict was released to the press by a bailiff who declined to be identified as he was not authorized to speak.
TAKEOUT OF THE MILITARY
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party won the 2020 election, but lawmakers could not take the seats. On February 1, 2021, the Myanmar Army took power and arrested, in addition to Suu Kyi, then-President Win Myint and other officials.
They point to massive electoral fraud. Independent observers do not confirm the irregularities.
The army violently repressed the protests that erupted in Myanmar in the weeks following the coup. According to the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners, so far, about 1,800 civilians have died as a result of the repression.
Since taking power, the military suspended laws that limited the activities of the security forces and ordered the arrest of supporters of the demonstrations against the seizure of power.
In August of last year, the military junta announced that will hold elections by August 2023. Before, the promised date for the election was up to 1 year.
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