Former Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to another six years in prison after a military court found her guilty in four corruption cases. The 77-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate has so far been sentenced a total of 17 years in prison since a military coup overthrew the civilian government in February 2021.
The trial took place behind closed doors and his lawyers were prohibited from disclosing information about the proceedings. According to the court, Suu Kyi abused her position to rent public land at below market prices and to have built a residence with donations intended for charitable purposes. The former Burmese leader has denied all charges: her lawyers should appeal.
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The persecution of the National League for Democracy party
Suu Kyi had already been sentenced to 11 years in prison for sedition, corruption and other charges in previous trials after the military ousted her elected government and arrested her in February 2021.
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Other prominent members of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party and her government were also arrested and imprisoned, the party itself could be dissolved by the military junta before the next elections.
The coup d’état
The army seized power and arrested Suu Kyi on February 1, 2021, the day her party would begin a second five-year term after scoring a landslide victory in the November 2020 general election. of the army sparked street protests that the security forces brutally suppressed. The opposition has given rise to a veritable armed resistance that some UN experts now refer to as civil war. The military junta is accused of human rights violations, arbitrary arrests and killings, torture and attacks on civilians and fires of entire villages.
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Suu Kyi, 77, has been the leader of the opposition to the military rule in Myanmar for more than three decades. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 while he was under house arrest. The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, has called for the immediate release of Suu Kyi. “I condemn the unjust sentence against Aung San Suu Kyi to another six years in detention and call on the regime in Myanmar to immediately and unconditionally release her, as well as all political prisoners, and to respect the will of the people.”