Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced Monday to 4 years in prison for inciting public disturbance and violating health rules related to COVID-19, the first sentence handed down against the former democracy icon pursued by the junta for many others charges and who may end his life in detention.
The 76-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner has been under house arrest since the February 1 coup that abruptly ended Myanmar’s democratic transition since 2010.
Judged since June, she is indicted for a multitude of offenses: illegal importation of walkie-talkies, sedition, corruption, electoral fraud …
Many observers denounce a political trial aimed at neutralizing the winner of the 2015 and 2020 elections.
The British government reacted very quickly, calling the conviction a “terrible attempt. […] to stifle the opposition and to suppress freedom and democracy ”. The UK calls on the regime “to release political prisoners, to engage in dialogue and allow a return to democracy,” Foreign Minister Liz Truss said.
On Monday, the former head of the civilian government, overthrown by the military in February, “was sentenced to two years in prison under section 505 (b) and two years in prison under the natural disasters, ”junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun told AFP by telephone.
Former President Win Myint was given the same sentence, he said, adding that they would not be taken to jail for the time being.
“They will have to face other charges from the places where they are currently staying” in the capital Naypyidaw, he added, without giving further details.
The incitement conviction relates to statements released by Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), shortly after the coup, condemning the generals’ takeover.
The COVID charge is linked to last year’s election, which the NLD won handily, but details are not known as the junta has imposed silence on court proceedings.
She faces decades in prison if convicted on all counts.
The next verdict is expected on December 14, for another breach of the natural disasters law.
Journalists are prohibited from attending special court proceedings in the military-built capital, and Suu Kyi’s lawyers were recently banned from speaking to the media.
“To suffocate freedoms”
According to a local rights-based NGO, more than 1,300 people have been killed and more than 10,000 arrested as part of the crackdown on dissent since the coup.
The Burmese junta seeks to “suffocate freedoms” by imprisoning the former head of the civilian government Aung San Suu Kyi, Amnesty International said in a statement.
“The heavy sentences imposed on Aung San Suu Kyi on the basis of these bogus charges are the latest example of the military’s determination to eliminate all opposition and stifle freedoms in Myanmar,” said Ming Yu Hah, director. Amnesty International’s regional deputy in charge of campaigns.
“The court’s far-fetched and corrupt ruling is part of a devastating pattern of arbitrary sanctions that has seen more than 1,300 people killed and thousands more arrested since the February military coup. “
These sentences “are revenge and a show of power on the part of the military,” Richard Horsey, Myanmar expert at the International Crisis Group, told AFP.
“However, it would be surprising if she was sent to prison. It is more likely that she will serve this sentence and the following ones at her home or in a “guesthouse” provided by the regime ”he added.
The generals justified their putsch by ensuring that they discovered more than 11 million irregularities during the November 2020 elections, won overwhelmingly by the NLD.
International observers at the time qualified the ballot as “generally free and fair”.
International pressure on the junta to quickly restore democracy has not turned the generals off course, and bloody clashes with anti-coup protesters continue across the country.