Myanmar court jails Aung San Suu Kyi for extra seven years for corruption

The military junta which took power in a coup in 2021 has now jailed Ms Suu Kyi for a total of 33 years
FILE PHOTO: Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi delivers a speech to the nation over the Rakhine and Rohingya situation in  Myanmar
Aung San Suu Kyi
REUTERS
Sami Quadri30 December 2022

Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been handed seven more years in jail for alleged corruption.

The military junta which took power in a coup in 2021 has now jailed Ms Suu Kyi for a total of 33 years, in proceedings widely condemned as a sham.

On Friday, she was found guilty on five charges of corruption relating to the misuse of state funds for the purchase and lease of a helicopter.

Ms Suu Kyi, 77, has also been convicted of several other offences, including illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies, violating coronavirus restrictions, breaching the country’s official secrets act, sedition and election fraud.

The latest trial was closed to the media, diplomats and spectators, and her lawyers were barred by a gag order from talking about it.

Ms Suu Kyi is alleged to have caused a loss of state funds by failing to follow financial regulations when giving permission to her former cabinet member Win Myat Aye to hire an aircraft.

A legal official said Ms Suu Kyi received sentences of three years for each of four charges, to be served concurrently, and four years for the charge related to the helicopter purchase, for a total of seven years.

She denied all charges and is expected to appeal in the coming days.

Ms Suu Kyi led Myanmar for five years from 2015 after the military ended its 49-year rule in 2011, only for it to take back control early last year to stop her elected government from starting a second term.

Her supporters say the numerous charges against her and her allies are an attempt to legitimise the military’s seizure of power and eliminate her from politics before an election next year.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in