Special Myanmar court sentences Suu Kyi to four years

Reports later said the sentence was reduced to 2 years. File pic/AP

A special court in Myanmar's capital sentenced the country's ousted leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to four years in prison on Monday after finding her guilty of incitement and violating coronavirus restrictions, a legal official said.

The sentencing was the first in a series of cases in which the 76-year-old Nobel laureate is being prosecuted since the army seized power on February 1, preventing her National League for Democracy party from starting a second five-year term in office. The ousted leader faces verdicts on other charges as early as next week.

If found guilty in all cases, she could be sentenced to more than 100 years in prison. The court on Monday did not make clear whether Suu Kyi would be sent to prison for the two convictions or placed under house arrest, the legal official said. In her long struggle for democracy, she has served 15 years of house arrest starting in 1989.

The official also said that Suu Kyi would be credited with 10 months for time already served in detention on the incitement case, leaving her with one year and two months to serve on that charge.

The convictions were met quickly with severe criticism. Yanghee Lee, the former U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar, described the charges as well as the verdict as "bogus," declaring that any trial held in the country is unfair as the judiciary is subservient to the military-installed government. Amnesty International called the verdicts "the latest example of the military's determination to eliminate all opposition and suffocate freedoms in Myanmar."

The UN rights chief on Monday slammed the Myanmar junta. "The conviction of the State Counsellor following a sham trial in secretive proceedings before a military-controlled court is nothing but politically-motivated," Michelle Bachelet said.

Myanmar army truck runs over protesters

An army vehicle plowed into a peaceful march by anti-government protesters in military-ruled Myanmar's biggest city, reportedly killing at least three people, witnesses and a protest organizer said. Sunday's march was one of at least three held in Yangon, and similar rallies were reported in other parts of the country a day ahead of an expected verdict in the first of about a dozen criminal cases against former leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

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