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Myanmar Democracy Leader Aung San Suu Kyi Sentenced to 33 Years in Prison

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Myanmar Democracy Leader Aung San Suu Kyi

Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced Friday to another seven years in prison, bringing her total sentence behind bars to more than three decades.

Aung Suu Kyi, 77, has been imprisoned by the military since a coup last year and has been convicted on every charge leveled against her, from corruption to illegally possessing walkie-talkies and violating Covid-19 restrictions.

On Friday she was jailed for seven years on five counts of corruption related to the hiring, maintaining and purchase of a helicopter for a government minister, a case in which she allegedly caused “a loss to the state”.

Aung Suu Kyi, who was sentenced to 33 years in prison after 18 months of sham court proceedings, appeared in good health, according to a legal source familiar with the case.

“All of her cases were completed, and there are no more charges against her,” said a source who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Journalists are not permitted to attend the hearings, and Aung  Suu Kyi’s lawyers are not permitted to speak to the media.

According to an AFP correspondent in the city, the road leading to the prison where Aung  Suu Kyi is being held in the military-built capital of Naypyidaw was clear of traffic ahead of the verdict.

Former Myanmar president Win Myint, who was charged alongside Aung  Suu Kyi in the latest trial, received the same sentence, according to the source, who added that both would appeal.

Myanmar’s democracy struggle

Aung Suu Kyi has only been seen once since her trial began, in grainy state media photos from a bare courtroom, and has relied on lawyers to relay messages to the rest of the world.

Many in Myanmar’s democracy struggle, which Aung  Suu Kyi has led for decades, have abandoned her core principle of nonviolence, with “People’s Defence Forces” clashing with the military on a regular basis across the country.

In its first resolution on the situation in Myanmar since the coup, the United Nations Security Council called on the junta to release Suu Kyi.

The council was relatively united after permanent members and junta allies China and Russia abstained, opting not to use vetoes in response to wording changes.

The corruption charges were “ridiculous,” according to Htwe Htwe Thein, an associate professor at Australia’s Curtin University.

“There is no hint of corruption in Aung San Suu Kyi’s leadership, governance, or lifestyle,” she said.”The question now is what to do with Aung San Suu Kyi,” said International Crisis Group’s Richard Horsey. “Whether to allow her to serve out her sentence under some form of house arrest, or grant foreign envoys limited access to her. “However, the regime is unlikely to rush into such decisions.”

Myanmar in turmoil

The Myanmar military claimed widespread voter fraud during elections in November 2020, which Aung Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) easily won, though international observers said the polls were mostly free and fair.

The junta has since annulled the results, claiming that it discovered more than 11 million cases of voter fraud.

Aung  Suu Kyi’s convictions “aim to both permanently sideline her, as well as undermine and ultimately negate her NLD party’s landslide victory,” Human Rights Watch’s Phil Robertson said.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military took control, effectively ending the Southeast Asian country’s brief experiment with democracy and sparking massive protests.

The junta has retaliated with a crackdown that rights groups say includes village razing, mass extrajudicial killings, and airstrikes on civilians.

According to the United Nations Children’s Agency, over one million people have been displaced since the coup.

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