Ousted Myanmar leader Suu Kyi sentenced to four years in jail: Reports

A special court in Myanmars capital sentenced the countrys 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 saidThe sentencing was the first in a series of cases in which the 76yearold Nobel laureate is being prosecuted since the army seized power on Feb 1 preventing her National League for Democracy party from starting a second fiveyear term in officeThe incitement case involved statements posted on her partys Facebook page after she and other party leaders had already been detained by the military while the coronavirus charge involved a campaign appearance ahead of elections in November last year which her party overwhelmingly wonThe army whose allied party lost many seats in the election claimed massive voting fraud but independent election observers did not detect any major irregularitiesThe courts ruling was conveyed by a legal official who insisted on anonymity for fear of being punished by the authorities Suu Kyis trials are closed to the media and spectators and her lawyers who had been the sole source of information on the proceedings were served with gag orders in October forbidding them from releasing informationThe cases against Suu Kyi are widely seen as contrived to discredit her and keep her from running in the next election The constitution bars anyone sent to prison after being convicted of a crime from holding high office or becoming a lawmakerOpposition to military rule remains strong 10 months after the armys takeover and the verdict may inflame tensions even furtherThere were protest marches on Sunday against the military government and calling for the release of Suu Kyi and other detained members of her government An army truck deliberately sped into a march by about 30 young people in Yangon the countrys biggest city and at least three of the protesters may have been killed according to unconfirmed reportsThe verdicts in Suu Kyis first two cases on incitement for allegedly spreading false or inflammatory information that could disturb public order and violating the Natural Disaster Management Law for allegedly breaching coronavirus restrictions were supposed to be delivered last TuesdayHowever the court postponed its ruling with no explanation At the same time it agreed to allow testimony this week on a separate coronavirus charge from an additional defense witness who had previously been unable to attend court because of ill healthSuu Kyis lawyers sought vigorously to have the incitement charge dismissed The prosecutions evidence consisted of statements posted on a Facebook page of Suu Kyis partyDefence lawyers argued that Suu Kyi and a codefendant former President Win Myint could not be held responsible for the statements which criticised the takeover and suggested in broad terms that it be resisted because they were already in detentionThe former mayor of Naypyitaw Myo Aung was another defendant in the charge which carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a fine Win Myint was sentenced to a total of four years and Myo Aung to two yearsFebruarys seizure of power was met by nationwide nonviolent demonstrations which security forces quashed with deadly force They have killed about 1300 civilians according to a detailed tally compiled by the Assistance Association for Political PrisonersWith severe restrictions on nonviolent protest armed resistance has grown in the cities and countryside to the point that UN experts have warned the country is sliding into civil warThe military took Suu Kyi into custody on the day of its takeover and she has not been seen in public since then though she has appeared in court in several of her trialsJudgment on Suu Kyis second count of violating coronavirus restrictions is scheduled for Dec 14 The maximum penalty for each count is three years imprisonment and a fineOther cases against Suu Kyi now being tried cover the alleged unregistered import and use of walkietalkies by her security guards violation of the Official Secrets Act in which jailed Australian economist Sean Turnell is a codefendant and four separate corruption charges covering the alleged acceptance of a bribe and abuse of office to obtain favourable terms on property transactionsEach of the corruption charges has a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment and a fineA trial on a fifth corruption charge has not yet started and state media last week announced a sixth charge has also been filed against Suu KyiThe latest charge accuses her and Win Myint of corruption in granting permits to rent and buy a helicopterIn midNovember the militaryappointed election commission announced it intended to prosecute Suu Kyi and 15 other senior political figures for alleged fraud in the last election which could result in her party being dissolvedThe military has declared it seized power because of widespread election fraud a claim that independent election observers say lacks evidenceThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever