Myanmar junta halves Suu Kyi jail term

GBNEWS24DESK//

Myanmar’s junta chief has reduced the jail sentence of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to two years, after initially doling out four years for incitement against the military and breaching Covid rules.

Suu Kyi, 76, has been detained since the generals staged a coup and ousted her government on February 1, ending the southeast Asian country’s brief period of democracy.

She has since been hit with a series of charges, including violating the official secrets act, illegally importing walkie talkies and electoral fraud.

on Tuesday, Suu Kyi was sentenced to two years for incitement against the military and another two years for breaching a natural disaster law relating to Covid, said junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun.

Former president Win Myint was also initially jailed for four years on the same charges, which the US has blasted as an “affront” to justice.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing later “pardoned” the sentences of both to “two years imprisonment”, according to a statement read out on state TV.

They would serve their sentences under the house arrest they have been kept under in the capital of Naypyidaw, the statement said, without giving further details.

The incitement conviction related to statements Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party published shortly after the coup condemning the generals’ takeover.

The Covid charge is linked to last year’s election, which the NLD won in a landslide, but the details are not clear with the government imposing a gag order on the court proceedings.

Journalists have been barred from attending the special court hearings in Naypyidaw and Suu Kyi’s lawyers were recently banned from speaking to the media.

In recent weeks, other senior members of the NLD have received long sentences.