Aung San Suu Kyi | Sentenced to 26 Years in Prison

[Sundance2020]

Monday’s ruling is first in a dozen cases Myanmar’s fucking military regime has brought against Aung San Suu Kyi since February coup.


A court in Myanmar has sentenced the country’s deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi to four years in jail, according to media reports. A spokesman for Myanmar’s military told the AFP news agency that Aung San Suu Kyi was found guilty on Monday of incitement and of violating COVID-19 rules. Zaw Min Tun said she received two years in prison on each of the two charges.

Former President Win Myint was also jailed for four years under the same charges, he said, adding that the pair will not be taken to prison yet.

“They will face other charges from the places where they are staying now”

in the capital Naypyidaw, he said, without giving further details.

The Reuters and the Associated Press news agencies, citing sources familiar with the proceedings, also said Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint were sentenced to four years in prison each. The trial in Naypyidaw has been closed to the media, while the military has barred Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyers from communicating with the media and the public.

The ruling on Monday is the first in a dozen cases the military has brought against the 76-year-old since it deposed her civilian government in a coup on February 1.

Other cases against the Nobel Peace Prize laureate include multiple charges of corruption, violations of a state secrets act, and a telecoms law that altogether carry a maximum sentence of more than a century in prison.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who had spent 15 years in house arrest under a previous military government, denies all the charges.

Her supporters say the cases are baseless and designed to end her political career and tie her up in legal proceedings while the military consolidates power.

Charles Santiago, a Malaysian legislator and chair of the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), condemned Monday’s sentence, calling it a “travesty of justice”.

“Since the day of the coup, it’s been clear that the charges against Aung San Suu Kyi, and the dozens of other detained MPs, have been nothing more than an excuse by the junta to justify their illegal power grab,” Santiago said, urging the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to “hold the line against this illegal takeover”.

The 10-member regional bloc has been spearheading diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis in Myanmar, and Santiago said Monday’s ruling demonstrates “the junta’s continuing contempt for ASEAN” and its peace plan, agreed with Myanmar’s military in April and which includes initiating dialogue between the opposing sides in the country.

“We continue our call for ASEAN to ban all junta representatives from its meetings, prevent junta generals from travelling in the region, and to engage with the duly-elected National Unity Government,” he said, referring to a parallel administration set up by deposed elected legislators.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the coup, paralysed by protests and instability that escalated after the military’s deadly crackdown on its opponents, who it calls “terrorists”. Security forces have killed at least 1,303 people, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a human rights group that records killings by the country’s security forces.

At least 354 opponents of the coup have also been sentenced to jail or to death, according to AAPP, including Aung San Suu Kyi’s aide, Win Htein, who was sentenced to 20 years in jail in October.

Amnesty International’s Ming Yu Hah said the sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday on “bogus charges are the latest example of the military’s determination to eliminate all opposition and suffocate freedoms in Myanmar”.

“The court’s farcical and corrupt decision is part of a devastating pattern of arbitrary punishment that has seen more than 1,300 people killed and thousands arrested since the military coup in February,” she said, calling for swift, decisive and unified action from the international community.

“The international community must step up to protect civilians and hold perpetrators of grave violations to account, and ensure humanitarian and health assistance is granted as a matter of utmost urgency,” she said.

[Licker]

Aung San Suu Kyi Trial begins in Myanmar

General Min Aung Hlaing - you are not elected and you are now responsible for the deaths of over 600 civilians as well as many more who are detained, tortured and assaulted. Aung San Suu Kyi is the only democratic elected leader of Myanmar ! Get out.

Trials are now underway for Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate, a beacon for democracy in Myanmar, and the ousted Burmese leader that has been held prisoner by the military junta for 4 months after their coup on February 1. The former leader of Myanmar is on trial for sedition and a number of lesser and archaic law violations.

The courtroom proceedings did not allow any journalists or media in the room, which was described as a sparse simple courtroom built by previous military forces. Without an audience or observers, the room held only a witness, the defendants, the judge, 2 clerks, and lawyers for both the prosecution and defence.

In the courtroom in Naypyidaw, the administrative capital of Myanmar, Suu Kyi is accused of sedition following colonial-era laws along with a smattering of other various charges. Some charges listed include old colonial laws regarding secrecy and the accusation that she accepted gold in illegal payments.

She faces separate charges of violating the arcane secrecy laws in Yangon courts. The court even had witnesses testifying about charges that during last year’s elections, Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy violated Covid-19 restrictions.




The NLD won 80% of the seats in a landslide victory for the party. According to her lawyer, Suu Kyi appears to be in good health during her court appearances and is said to be alert and attentive. She was described as always strong, smart and confident. If convicted of all the crimes she stands accused of, Suu Kyi could face more than 10 years in jail for the crimes.

Former president Win Myint and senior NLD leader Dr Myo Aung were present with Suu Kyi in the court appearance. They both stand facing similar charges of sedition. The trials are expected to continue, with court proceedings picking up again next week. The junta still maintains that the NLD victory was fraudulent and have threatened to dissolve the party, but have also pledged to hold a new election within 2 years.

Suu Kyi has been rarely seen or heard from since the Burmese military coup in February and the resulting months of often deadly protests. She has been held under house arrest and mostly seen when making court appearances over the last 4 months. The court is reportedly surrounded by police security forces, as the popular democratic leader stands trial by the overwhelmingly unpopular military coup, whose leaders said they were surprised by the enduringness and intensity of the protests and backlash against their coup. In fact, those protests that often turn violent, with the military crackdowns that have killed over 850 people already, have delayed this trial for months already with demonstrations and skirmishes crippling the economy and bringing much of Myanmar to a grinding halt.

After an ASEAN summit laid out a 5 point action plan that has largely been ignored, a humanitarian envoy was supposed to enter Myanmar to assess the situation, which has yet to happen. The junta fired Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations, but the UN still recognizes his status, and he has been vocal about the need for the international community to intervene immediately. He says otherwise the military junta will be further enabled to commit human rights atrocities.

[Sundance2020]

Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi and ousted president to face another charge



Sixteen people, including Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and ousted President Win Myint, are set to face another charge of election fraud, the Union Election Commission under the military junta said on Monday. According to local media, Irrawaddy News, the former Chairman of the Union Election Commission and members Myint Naing and Than Htay, Cabinet Minister Min Thu, Mandalay Division Chief Minister Dr Zaw Myint Maung, and Naypyidaw Mayor Dr Myo Aung were amongst the 16 accused by the military junta.

This is the first time since the military takeover on February 1 that action has been taken against members of the commission.

Meanwhile, the regime has named only eight people in the lawsuit and did not say under which section they are suing.

The National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, scored another landslide victory in Myanmar’s 2020 general election, but the military staged a coup and annulled the election results, citing voter fraud. Following it, the military council and its UEC are collaborating to depose the NLD and hold proportional representation elections to let the parties of their choice enter parliament.

Suu Kyi, who is presently detained, has been charged with 11 cases, while President Win Myint has been charged with two. According to NLD Central Committee member Kyaw Htwe on Monday, 418 individuals were detained including Suu Kyi and eight were slain nationwide since the February 1 military coup in Myanmar.

[Sundance2020]

Verdicts in Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi trial postponed until Monday



According to a source acquainted with the proceedings in Myanmar, the first verdicts in the trial of former State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi were adjourned to Monday by a court under the military junta.
The court was set to rule on allegations of incitement and violations of Covid-19 guidelines under a natural disaster law today, one of nearly a dozen charges brought against 76 year old Suu Kyi who has denied all charges.

The insider, who requested anonymity, did not provide an explanation for the delay, and her trials are being held privately as all of her lawyers were barred from speaking to the media.

Ousted Mandalay chief minister Zaw Myint Maung is in good health and will testify in Naypyidaw as her witness for violating the Covid-19 allegation. The junta and state media have refused to divulge details.

Myanmar has been in chaos, with the junta struggling to consolidate power amid protests, strikes, and armed militia resistance in the jungles nationwide, who joined forces with the shadow government in retribution for the military’s use of lethal force.

[Logan]

Myanmar ousted leader’s prison sentence reduced to 2 years

Myanmar’s ousted State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to four years in prison yesterday, but it was then reduced to two years following a partial pardon by the military junta’s commander, according to state television.

Her indictments were unrest and violating Covid-19 epidemic guidelines, according to the junta’s ruling court, which ordered the first judicial decision in a series of allegations brought by the country’s military administration against her.

Meanwhile, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who will lead the ASEAN bloc next year, said yesterday that he has reached out to Myanmar’s junta to offer assistance in resolving the country’s political turmoil with a plan to visit the country.

The Myanmar regime’s foreign minister, Wunna Maung Lwin, is slated to visit Cambodia on today, in one of the few international excursions by a junta member since the military seized power on February 1 and bloody crackdown on anti-coup protesters.

Since the coup, Suu Kyi, the leader of the former government National League for Democracy, or NLD, has been held in an unidentified location.

She had spent 15 years behind house arrest during Myanmar’s previous period of military control and she will spend her two-year sentence where she is now detained, according to Junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun, rather than being taken to prison.

It’s unclear whether this agreement will apply to any future jail sentences she might get. Corruption, breaking the Official Secrets Act, sedition, and unlawfully holding walkie-talkies are among the counts she faces. Her supporters feel the claims are false and are being exploited to bring an end to her political career.

The ruling was a “travesty of justice,” according to Malaysian legislator Charles Santiago, who chairs the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights yesterday, whilst Suu Kyi’s release was demanded by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“The Burmese military regime’s unjust conviction of Aung San Suu Kyi and the repression of other democratically elected officials are yet further affronts to democracy and justice in Burma.”

[Sundance2020]

Suu Kyi imprisonment: Will the EU impose sanctions on Myanmar?



After the United States, Britain and Canada last Friday announced additional sanctions on Myanmar’s military junta, pressure is growing on the European Union to follow suit. The vice president of the European Parliament called earlier for additional measures against Myanmar’s junta and its associated businesses, which took power illegally in a coup on February 1. However, EU spokespersons contacted by DW declined to comment on the matter.

The latest sanctions from several Western nations came days after Aung San Suu Kyi, the deposed state counsellor, was sentenced last week to two years in prison on charges of incitement and breaking COVID-19 rules. Additional accusations against the Nobel Peace Prize winner could lead to her imprisonment for up to 100 years.

Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party won a resounding victory in the November 2020 general election, which the military later claimed was rigged. Myanmar was ruled as a military dictatorship from 1962 until its democratic transition in the early 2010s, although the military maintained its political power after Suu Kyi’s party took office in 2016.

‘A long list of reasons’ to sanction

Suu Kyi’s sentencing

“is just the latest in a long list of reasons why the EU should impose more targeted sanctions on the military,”

said Mark Farmaner, director of the action group Burma Campaign UK.

“It’s been almost six months since the EU imposed any new sanctions, which will be encouraging the military to believe the EU won’t take any further action,”

Farmaner told DW.

After the February 1 coup, it took Brussels several weeks before it imposed sanctions on the generals and their military-run businesses in Naypyidaw. A third round of sanctions were deployed in June.

The coup sparked a national revolt with anti-junta protesters forming a Civil Disobedience Movement that has refused to cease its demonstrations, despite an estimated 1,300 civilians having now been killed by security forces since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a monitoring group.

Meanwhile, decades-old civil wars in the country’s restive ethnic-minority provinces have escalated into open conflict. Myanmar is now spoken of as nearly a “failed state.” The government-in-exile, the National Unity Government, called on civilians in September to form militias and fight a “people’s defensive war” against the junta.

Kristina Kironska, a Bratislava-based academic who specializes in Myanmar, said the EU has much more leverage that it could use to weaken the military and support the Myanmar people. However, the EU is “failing to use this leverage,” said Kironska.

“It is disappointing because, at first, it appeared that the EU had learned from its past mistakes in imposing sanctions on Myanmar, when [previously] one-off rounds of sanctions were introduced only every few years after an atrocity was committed,”

Kironska told DW.

No word yet on a new round of measures

So far, the EU foreign policy hierarchy has not said whether it is considering a fourth round of sanctions against Myanmar’s generals.

“The European Union strongly condemns this politically motivated verdict, which constitutes another major setback for democracy in Myanmar since the military coup,”

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement early last week, referring to the sentencing of Suu Kyi. He made no mention of possible new sanctions during a separate speech last Friday to mark Human Rights Day. EU spokesperson Peter Stano would not be drawn on the question of further sanctions. It is for Borrell or EU member states to propose additional measures, he said, and then for the European Council to adopt them.

However, pressure is growing on Brussels to do more, and several European Commission officials, who have requested anonymity, said that limited discussions have been held over possible new sanctions. In October, the European Parliament called on the European Council to take additional action. “This should include imposing asset freezes and bans on international financial transfers” to Myanmar’s state-owned banks, Heidi Hautala, vice president of the European Parliament, told DW.

She added that the EU should also look at extending sanctions to include the Myanmar Oil and Gas Company, reportedly the junta’s largest single source of foreign currency income. On top of this, Hautala called for greater enforcement of existing EU sanctions. The Environmental Investigation Agency reported in September that EU imports of illegally-logged teak from Myanmar have continued, notably to Italy, in violation of the EU Timber Regulation.

The Myanmar Timber Enterprise, a state-run organization that controls most timber exports, is also on the EU’s sanctions list. “The EU cannot become a hot spot for illegal timber that profits the military junta,” said Hautala.

Questions over ASEAN-Myanmar mediation

Opinions in Brussels are also diverging over whether it’s wise to continue trusting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc to mediate peace talks with Myanmar’s junta leaders. ASEAN was criticized after Myanmar’s generals broke almost all of the conditions of a “Five-Point Consensus,” which the generals and the bloc agreed on together earlier in the year. The consensus had called for an immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar and the provision of humanitarian assistance, among other measures.

ASEAN was, however, able to win back some trust after disinviting the junta leader, Min Aung Hlaing, from its virtual summit in October. But that seemingly hard-nosed turn from ASEAN appears to be over after the chairmanship of the bloc changed hands.

Hun Sen, the long-serving prime minister of Cambodia, which recently took on the rotating ASEAN chair for 2022, said last week that he will visit Naypyidaw in January to meet with Hlaing. Analysts believe that this visit will serve to legitimize the junta.

“The EU is waking up to the fact that the ASEAN-led process won’t go anywhere and that they have to be more proactive instead of hiding behind ASEAN,”

said Farmaner, of Burma Campaign UK. Some EU officials maintain that nothing has changed, however. Borrell said last week that he still believes in the ASEAN-led process, while Stano, the EU spokesperson, said the EU gives its “full support to the ongoing efforts by ASEAN and the ASEAN Chair’s Special Envoy.”

Hautala asserted that ASEAN could have played a key role in resolving the situation peacefully “if it weren’t hindered by authoritarian governments in countries like Cambodia and Thailand that seek to protect the Myanmar military junta.”

“It is a great disappointment that we cannot rely on the ASEAN-led response,”

Hautala added.

[Logan]

Myanmar deposed leader faces another postponement of her verdict

Pressures from the West and human rights groups may impede Myanmar generals’ decision to seek longer jail terms for deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi as the court under the military junta has postponed her another verdict for illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies today.

Despite her lawyers being barred from speaking to the media and journalists barred from attending her special court hearings in Naypyidaw, an AFP report says her verdict on allegations of illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies has been postponed to next Monday.

The 76 year old Nobelist and former State Counsellor could face three years in prison if proven guilty next week.

The charges arise from a raid on her home in the early hours of the coup, when soldiers and police allegedly discovered her in possession of the illicit equipment, although the police did not have a search warrant then.

Suu Kyi was sentenced to four years in prison earlier this month for inciting violence against the military and breaching Covid-19 measures earlier this month.

Her sentence was later lowered to two years of house arrest in the capital, Naypyidaw, by military coup leader Min Aung Hlaing.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP Burma), a local monitoring group, nationwide protests against the coup have resulted in a deadly crackdown, with over 1,300 people killed and over 11,000 imprisoned.

[Sundance2020]

Former leader Suu Kyi breaks silence, urges Burmese to ‘be united’



In rare comments, the former leader of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, has called on the Burmese people to be united. According to a Reuters report, the comments were confirmed by a source close to Suu Kyi’s legal proceedings. Suu Kyi, along with the democratically elected government, was ousted by a military coup on February 1 last year.

The former leader is now on trial, facing accusations of violating a state secrets law, multiple trumped up corruption charges, and a raft of other offences. In total, the charges carry combined maximum prison terms of over 150 years. Reuters’ source says Suu Kyi is urging the Burmese people to be united and continue dialogue with one another…

“Aung San Suu Kyi tells the people to ‘be united’, to have open dialogue among each other.”

The source, who does not wish to be identified, given that the military is limiting what information is made available about Suu Kyi and her trial, quotes the former leader’s words asking people to respect each other’s views.

“‘Everyone has a different view – discuss and talk patiently.'”

According to the Reuters report, the anonymous source would not be drawn on why Suu Kyi is calling for unity, but insists it is not a call to engage in talks with the Burmese junta. There has been no comment from the military on the matter.

The source report that a verdict is expected next week in relation to a corruption charge that accuses Suu Kyi of accepting bribes of gold and cash. She has denied the charge. Last year, she was found guilty of several offences, in a trial that took place behind closed doors and run by the military Junta. Prior to the coup, she had faced international condemnation as a result of the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

After the military coup ousted Suu Kyi and her democratically-elected government, the United Nations and various rights groups haveaccused the junta of committing atrocities against the Burmese. The military refute the allegations.

[Tripadvisor]

Ousted Burmese leader Suu Kyi appears in court on corruption charge

Aung San Suu Kyi, the democratically-elected former leader of Myanmar who was ousted in a military coup last year, has appeared in court on a corruption charge. The case is one of multiple cases being brought against her, with the threat of lengthy prison time if she’s found guilty.

According to comments made to Reuters by an unnamed source close to her trial, Suu Kyi has appeared in court accused of channelling charity funds into real estate. Since being ousted and arrested in the February 2021 coup, Suu Kyi has been slapped with several corruption charges, which in total could see her sentenced to nearly 190 years in prison.

A verdict is expected to be handed down today, after a spokesman for the Burmese military said the verdict was postponed from yesterday. The charge, the first of 11, carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years. Suu Kyi is accused of accepting cash payments of US$600,000, along with 11 kilograms of gold, from former Yangon chief minister, Phyo Min Thein. She has dismissed the accusations as, “absurd”.

Her supporters say the accusations are trumped up in a bid to end the political future of the woman who has led Myanmar’s fight against military dictatorship. The numerous charges against her range from violating electoral and state secrets laws to incitement and corruption. Her lawyers are under a gag order and the international community have decried the trials as farcical.

The Burmese military insists Suu Kyi is being given due process by an independent court

[Xerxes]

Myanmar’s ex-leader Suu Kyi sentenced to 5 years in prison


Ousted leader of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi has been found guilty of corruption and sentenced to five years in prison by a court in Myanmar, according to an anonymous source with access to her trial, which is being tightly controlled by the junta. The charge was the first of 11 corruption charges filed against her, so her prison sentence will grow if she is found guilty on any other charges.

Suu Kyi was found guilty of accepting cash payments of US$600,000 and 11 kilograms of gold from former Yangon chief minister Phyo Min Thein. 76 year old Suu Kyi described the accusations as “absurd.” The sentence carried a maximum punishment of 15 years, but Suu Kyi was charged with five years in prison.

Each of the 11 corruption charges filed against the democratically-elected former leader of Myanmar carries a maximum sentence of 15 years. Suu Kyi was already charged with six years in prison for incitement against the military, breaching Covid-19 rules and breaking a telecommunications law. She will remain under house arrest while she appeals against the many other charges filed against her.

Suu Kyi and her detained former economic policy advisor Sean Turnell are also accused of breaking the “official secrets” act. According to an unnamed source, Suu Kyu is also accused of channeling charity funds into real estate.

Since the military took power by coup in Myanmar in February last year, ousting her from her democratically-elected position, Suu Kyi has been continuously facing corruption charges. Suu Kyi won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 in recognition of her brave struggle for democracy in Myanmar. However, in 2016 her reputation become tarnished globally as people said she turned a blind eye to the genocide of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

Suu Kyi’s leaders have been banned from speaking to the press about Suu Kyi’s current court cases. Journalists have also been barred from attending the court hearings in the country’s capital Naypyidaw.

Human Rights Watch have called Suu Kyi’s ongoing trials a “courtroom circus of secret proceedings on bogus charges.. So that [Aung San Suu Kyi] will remain in prison indefinitely.”

According to the UN, 1,500 people have been killed and a further 8,800 are in custody since the military coup in Myanmar in February last year.

THESE FUCKING JUNTA LEADERS ARE OUT OF MIND !!!

FREEDOM FOR AUNG SAN SUU KYI

[Sundance2020]

Aung San Suu Kyi receives additional 6-year prison sentence



Deposed Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi has received an additional jail term sentence, this time six years for corruption, adding to the 11 years she has already been sentenced to previously. Having served as the equivalent of the prime minister of Myanmar as it introduced democracy, she was immediately jailed when the military junta overthrew the democratic government on February 1, 2021. She was sentenced previously to 11 years in jail for breaking Covid-19 restrictions as well as telecommunication laws, and for corruption and incitement against the military. She is also being prosecuted for various charges of electoral fraud and violating the Official Secrets Act which could imprison her for dozens of years.

Suu Kyi was sentenced to three years for each of the four current corruption charges, 20% of the maximum sentence of 15 years according to an anonymous source. But her jail term is only six years for all four after the courts declared she could serve three of the sentences concurrently. Now facing 17 confirmed years in jail, the Nobel laureate has received support from leadership around the world who decried the ruling as unjust. The European Union foreign policy chief called for her immediate release while a US State Department spokesperson condemned the action as an affront to justice.

“We call on the regime to immediately release Aung San Suu Kyi and all those unjustly detained, including other democratically elected officials.”

The long prison sentence means that Suu Kyi isn’t eligible to be a candidate should the military junta keep its promise of elections next year, dimming hopes for a democratic future that she has represented for decades. Many in Myanmar recognise this as a major motivation behind the long sentence. Human Rights Watch has condemned the sentence, along with recent executions and the entire military crackdown that has seen 17,000 arrests and over 2,000 deaths. The group monitoring the junta action locally railed against their latest actions.

“The junta’s fabricated trials, torture of detainees, and execution of activists highlights its broader disregard for the lives of Myanmar’s people,”

The recent execution of other dissidents, including a member of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, which Suu Kyi learned about only in her pre-trial hearing. The hearings, and her meetings before court dates with her lawyers, are the only contact she has with the outside world at this point.

[Tripadvisor]

Woe upon woe – Suu Kyi gets more jail time

A court in Myanmar has convicted ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi on two more corruption charges. Her two three-year sentences will be served concurrently, though added to previous sentences that now leave her facing a 26-year prison term. Aung San Suu Kyi is charged with illegally importing and possessing communications equipment, violating coronavirus restrictions, breaching the official secrets act, sedition, election fraud and five corruption charges.

In February 2021, the military took over from Suu Kyi’s government. Her NLD party had won a landslide victory in elections, guaranteeing it a further five years in government. Suu Kyi was detained and has not been seen in public since. Tom Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, described the situation at the time as very disturbing. He said…

“What many have feared is indeed unfolding in Myanmar.”

In this latest case, she is accused of receiving money in 2019 and 2020 from Maung Weik, a tycoon and convicted drug trafficker. Under Aung San Suu Kyi’s government, Maung Weik won a major development project that included the construction of houses, restaurants, hospitals, economic zones, along with port and hotel zones in Myanmar’s central Mandalay region. State television last year showed a video showing Maung Weik claiming to have paid off government ministers to help his businesses. Suu Kyi’s lawyer Khin Maung Zaw speaks to the media outside the Supreme Court in Naypyidaw on February 1, 2019.

It’s mostly corruption charges that the military has raised against Nobel laureate Suu Kyi. She has been charged with 12 counts in total, each subject to up to 15 years in prison and a fine. She is tried in closed sessions and her lawyers cannot speak publicly on anything concerning the matter She is already serving 23 years for illegally importing and possessing communications equipment, violating coronavirus restrictions, breaching the official secrets act, sedition, election fraud and five corruption charges. Her supporters say the charges are politically motivated to prevent her from taking part in the next election, promised for 2023.