The overthrown democratically elected leader of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, She was convicted Monday of charges including incitement and sentenced to four years in prison, a source with direct knowledge of the case confirmed to NBC News.
The source added that they are concerned for Suu Kyi’s safety. When asked what’s next for the country’s democracy movement, they said they are “hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst.”
The overthrown president Win myint He was also sentenced to four years, according to the source. No indication was given as to where the two will serve their sentences.
The army overthrew Suu Kyi, the leader of the country’s civilian government, in February. At the time, he had urged the people to oppose the military’s takeover of power.
The United Kingdom and the European Union, who have previously called for the restoration of democracy in Myanmar, condemned the verdict.
The democratically elected leader was overthrown after a military coup.
“The sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi is another gruesome attempt by the Myanmar military regime to suppress the opposition and suppress freedom and democracy,” said the Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, it’s a statement.
The head of foreign policy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, He called the trial and sentence “another step towards dismantling the rule of law and a new flagrant violation of human rights in Myanmar.”
Meanwhile, the commissioner of the United Nations for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, he called the trial a “farce” and said it was “politically motivated.”
“These cases cannot give a legal veneer to the illegitimacy of the coup and the military government,” he said.
Myanmar’s leader overthrown and sentenced
Suu Kyi, 76, was convicted of inciting public disturbances against the military and violating the rules of COVID-19 in a closed-door hearing. The authorities of Myanmar They imposed a gag order on Suu Kyi’s lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, in October, saying their communications could cause instability.
The incitement case involved statements posted on the Facebook of her party after she and other party leaders had already been detained by the military, while the coronavirus charge involved a campaign appearance before last year’s November elections that her party overwhelmingly won.
These are not the only charges against Suu Kyi, who was detained after the inauguration. Verdicts in two cases related to his alleged ownership of walkie-talkies, allegedly found when soldiers raided his home in early February 1, are due later this month.
She has also been charged with a list of other crimes, including illegal importation and violation of the Official Secrets Act.
The cases against her are seen as a device to discredit her and prevent her from running for the next election. The constitution prohibits anyone imprisoned after being convicted of a crime from holding an important office or becoming a legislator.
USA, various European countries, along with Australia, New Zealand and South Korea They have opposed the seizure of military power and have called for a return to democracy.
Suu Kyi led a civilian government after her party won in the 2015 elections called after the army walked away from half a century of direct rule. That ended in February when the military detained Suu Kyi and other officials from the National League for Democracy party after the November 2020 elections in which the military lost seats.
Military leaders claimed at the time that the election was fraudulent, but the United States has said it was credible. The country’s military leader said this summer that new elections would be held in the next two years.
In the days following the inauguration, protesters across the country took to the streets and clashed with security forces who used deadly force against them.
The UN has said that more than 1,300 people have died in political violence since the military took control.
On Sunday, the UN condemned a reported attack on unarmed civilians in Yangon, with a vehicle belonging to the security forces that rammed the protesters and then shot them with live ammunition.
Suu Kyi, whose reputation was tarnished in 2017 by the country’s treatment of the minority of the Rohingya Muslim population, had been under house arrest for some 15 years by the military. In 1991 he received the Nobel Peace Prize in absentia for defending democracy and rights under Myanmar’s ruling junta.
Last month, the American journalist Danny Fenster, one of several journalists who were imprisoned after the inauguration was released in Myanmar.
He had been convicted of spreading false or inflammatory information, contacting illegal organizations and violating visa regulations and was sentenced to 11 years of forced labor.
On AmericanPost.News we will follow the latest news from Myanmar like a military truck rammed into a group of protesters.
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