She is considered a figurehead of the resistance: Last year, ex-government Suu Kyi was sentenced to 17 years in prison in Myanmar. A court has now extended the prison term by three years for alleged electoral fraud. The trial for the Nobel Peace Prize winner is not over yet.
In military-ruled Myanmar, de-facto Prime Minister Aung San Suu Kyi has been sentenced to another prison term, according to an insider. This time, a court found the 77-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate guilty of voter fraud and sentenced her to three years in prison with hard labor, a person with knowledge of the case said.
The figurehead of the opposition to decades of military rule in the Southeast Asian country has been in prison since a coup early last year and has already been sentenced to a total of more than 17 years in prison in several cases. She has been charged with at least 18 offences, ranging from corruption and incitement to the betrayal of state secrets, but also for violating corona laws. Together they face almost 190 years in prison. She has dismissed all allegations as absurd.
In the current trial, Suu Kyi was accused of fraud in the November 2020 general election, which won her National League for Democracy (NLD) by a large majority, beating a military-founded party. According to the insider, it was unclear what exactly meant by forced labor. Deposed President Win Myint received the same punishment. A statement from the military rulers was initially not available. Internationally, the trials of Suu Kyi are condemned as politically motivated.
The military staged a coup in early 2021 and arrested Suu Kyi, other representatives of the then government and most of the leading politicians of her NLD party. As a result, international sanctions were imposed on the new rulers.
Suu Kyi is the daughter of a hero celebrated in former Burma in the fight for independence from former colonial rule Great Britain. Suu Kyi spent a total of 15 years under house arrest between 1989 and 2010. She was at the forefront of the democracy movement, which rebelled against the military, which had been in power since 1962. She was released in 2010 and led her party to power in elections five years later.
