Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi gets 4 years' jail
Myanmar’s deposed state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced on Monday (Dec 6) to four years’ jail for incitement and breaching Covid-19 pandemic rules.
The National League for Democracy (NLD) party leader has been detained in an undisclosed location since the Feb 1 military coup and not allowed to communicate with the public, save for discussions with her legal defence team.
She faces several other charges, including corruption, breaching the official secrets law, sedition, violating Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, and possessing walkie-talkies illegally.
Her supporters believe these are bogus charges designed to end her political career.
The 76-year-old Nobel Prize winner, who is revered by the majority of people in Myanmar as "Mother Suu", led the NLD to landslide victories in the 2015 and 2020 elections.
But the latter was annulled by the junta on allegations of electoral fraud that have yet to be independently verified.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has pledged to hold fresh elections and end the current state of emergency by August 2023.
Ms Suu Kyi is nominally the head of the National Unity Government (NUG), an entity established in April and comprising ousted lawmakers and activists who are challenging the junta’s right to rule.
Ousted president Win Myint, who was detained like Ms Suu Kyi after the coup and charged with incitement, also retains his title in the NUG.
He was also sentenced to four years in prison on Monday on the same charges, junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun told AFP news agency.
Ten months after the unpopular coup, the junta is still trying to quell widespread resistance to its rule. October.
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