Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has been sentenced by a special court in the capital of Myanmar to four years in prison on Monday over charges of incitement and violating COVID restrictions. The sentencing is just the first of several cases for which the former Myanmar leader is being prosecuted after the junta took over on February 1, effectively preventing her and her National League for Democracy party from beginning another five-year term in office.
According to CBN News, Suu Kyi is set to face verdicts on other charges beginning next week. If found guilty in the other cases, she may be sentenced to over 100 years in prison. The legal office reported that the Myanmar court did not specify if she was to be sent to prison for the first two convictions or will be placed under house arrest, which she had served 15 years of beginning in 1989 because of her fight for democracy in the country.
The official said that Suu Kyi's term will be slashed by 10 months for the time she already served in detention on the incitement case. She will, however, need to complete one year and two months to serve that charge. The democratic leader did not receive a similar reduction on the charge for violating COVID restrictions, however.
The Myanmar court's decision to sentence the Nobel laureate was met with intense backlash from Suu Kyi's supporters and those who supported democracy in the country now ravaged by the junta. Former U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar Yanghee Lee called the charges "bogus," arguing that any trial held in the country is not fair given the fact that the judiciary falls under the military-installed government.
Thomas Andrews, a former U.S. congressman who is serving in the independent post, also expressed his disapproval, as per Al Jazeera. Andrews remarked, "Today's sentencing demonstrates why the international community must take stronger action to support the people of Myanmar by denying the junta the revenue and weapons that they need to continue their illegitimate grip on the people of Myanmar."
Amnesty International condemned the Myanmar court's decision, calling it "the latest example of the military's determination to eliminate all opposition and suffocate freedoms in Myanmar."
The U.K. also released a statement calling the Myanmar court's decision "another appalling attempt by Myanmar's military regime to stifle opposition and suppress freedom and democracy" and demanded the "regime to release political prisoners, engage in dialogue and allow a return to democracy."
Suu Kyi's defense lawyers are expected to file appeals for the Nobel laureate and two colleagues who were also convicted on Monday. The cases against the former Myanmar leader are being used to further discredit her and prevent her from running for office in the country's next election. Myanmar's constitution prohibits anyone who has been sent to prison following a criminal conviction from holding high office or even becoming a lawmaker.
