A military-run court in Myanmar Monday found ousted civilian leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi guilty on charges including the possession of walkie talkies and the breach of COVID-19 regulations and sentenced her to four more years in prison.
This ruling came just over a month after she was first convicted by a military junta for four years on charges including incitement, which was subsequently reduced to two years by the leader of the junta, Min Aung Hlaing. She has been targeted altogether with over a dozen charges which could lead to a combined sentence of 100 years.
She has been detained in an unknown location in Naypyitaw since last year. Details of her trial have not been released, and her legal team has been handicapped ever since the gag order issued by the junta prevented them from speaking to the media, foreign diplomats or international organizations.
Suu Kyi’s second round of convictions came only a few days after police sub-lieutenant and her former bodyguard, Daw Cherry Htet, was arrested over accusations of incitement on account of Facebook posts supporting the ousted leader and association with Myanmar’s underground government. She has been under the junta’s surveillance since the coup in February and was forced to work at the Myanmar Police Force Headquarters.
US Department of State spokesman Ned Price called out the Burmese military regime for its “unjust conviction” of Suu Kyi while calling her latest sentencing “an affront to justice and the rule of law.” He also called on them to release the ousted leaders and all those who were unjustly detained and restore Burma’s path to democracy. The Norwegian Nobel Committee also denounced the new convictions and claimed that the latest ruling against her is politically motivated.