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Aung San Suu Kyi
AsiaSoutheast Asia

Myanmar junta jails Aung San Suu Kyi for another 4 years over walkie-talkies, coronavirus

  • The 76-year-old Suu Kyi was found guilty of two charges related to illegally importing and owning walkie-talkies and one of breaking coronavirus rules
  • Monday’s sentence adds to an earlier two-year jail term the ousted leader received for incitement and breaching Covid-19 rules while campaigning

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A protester holds a poster featuring Aung San Suu Kyi at a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon last year. Photo: AFP
Agence France-Presse
A Myanmar junta court on Monday convicted Aung San Suu Kyi of three criminal charges, sentencing her to four years in prison in the latest in a slew of cases against the ousted civilian leader.
The Nobel laureate has been detained since February 1 last year when her government was forced out in an early morning coup, ending Myanmar’s short-lived experiment with democracy.

The generals’ power grab triggered widespread dissent, which security forces sought to quell with mass detentions and bloody crackdowns in which more than 1,400 civilians have been killed, according to a local monitoring group.

Aung San Suu Kyi pictured in January last year, shortly before the coup that removed her as Myanmar’s state counsellor. Photo: AFP
Aung San Suu Kyi pictured in January last year, shortly before the coup that removed her as Myanmar’s state counsellor. Photo: AFP

A source with knowledge of the case said the 76-year-old Suu Kyi was found guilty of two charges related to illegally importing and owning walkie-talkies and one of breaking coronavirus rules.

Junta spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun confirmed the verdicts and sentences and said Suu Kyi would remain under house arrest while other cases against her proceed.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the Nobel Peace Prize, denounced three new convictions handed to Suu Kyi.

“The Nobel Committee is deeply concerned about her situation,” the chairwoman of the Nobel committee Berit Reiss-Andersen told AFP in an email, adding: “The latest ruling against Aung San Suu Kyi is a politically motivated ruling.”

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