A military court in Burma (Myanmar) sentenced this Wednesday to another three years in prison the deposed leader of the country and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, after being found guilty of two cases of corruption.
With this new verdict, Suu Kyi, 77 years old and who is detained in a Naypyidaw prison, accumulates sentences for a total of 26 years in prison, after she was found guilty of various charges after the coup d’etat of the 1 of February 2021, which ended with the elected Government of Burma.
More lawsuits pending against Suu Kyi
As sources related to the trial explained, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, who faces yet more trials, was sentenced to three years in prison for each of the two crimes, but may serve the sentences simultaneously.
The cases refer to a complaint filed by the Police last February accusing Suu Kyi of allegedly misappropriating some $500,000 that had been donated between 2019 and 2020 to a foundation that she chaired at the time.
Suu Kyi, imprisoned since the military coup, is facing other trials, all held behind closed doors, and is accused, among other charges, of allegedly abusing her position by renting land and buying and renting helicopters.
The legal representatives of the ousted leader, for their part, have denied all charges.
Two weeks ago, the former leader had already been sentenced, along with her economic adviser, the Australian Sean Turnell, to three years in prison for violating the Official Secrets Law, although the details of said crime have not been specified by the Burmese military junta. .
The coup in Burma
The coup d’état perpetrated by the military on February 1, 2021 has plunged the country into a deep political, social and economic crisis, which opened a spiral of violence and repression and led to the imprisonment of various voices opposed to the regime.
The Army justifies the coup by alleged massive fraud during the November 2020 elections, the result of which has been annulled and in which Suu Kyi’s party swept away, as it did in 2015, with the endorsement of international observers.
Since the military uprising, more than 2,340 people have died due to the brutal repression of the security forces, who came to shoot to kill peaceful and unarmed protesters, while the number of people arrested exceeds 15,800, according to the latest data from the NGO Burmese Association for the Assistance of Political Prisoners.