Arrested on 1er February during the coup d’état of the Burmese army, Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced on Monday 6 December by a criminal court in Naypyidaw, the country’s capital, to four years in prison for “inciting an uprising” and for violating rules relating to gatherings during the Covid-19 pandemic. There are a total of twelve charges against the former de facto civilian leader of Burma, charges of corruption, electoral fraud or violation of telecommunications laws (for possession of walkie-talkies without a license).
Former President Win Myint, a close ally of the Nobel Prize winner, was sentenced to the same sentence. A spokesman for the junta, led by General Min Aung Hlaing, said they would not be taken to jail for the time being. “They will have to face other charges from the places where they are currently staying” to Naypyidaw, he added.
Aung San Suu Kyi was indicted for inciting public unrest after two statements issued on February 7 and 13 by the central executive committee of her party, the NLD (the National League for Democracy), which won the general elections of November 2020. The first called on the international community, including the United Nations, foreign governments and foreign chancelleries in Myanmar, not to recognize the regime resulting from the coup. The second said that all regulations, rules and laws promulgated by the junta were illegal. The defendants’ defense team argued that the statements were not signed by any party representative, an argument which Judge Ye Lwin failed to acknowledge.
The latter is known to respect to a certain point the forms, while never deviating from the requirements of his master, in this case the army. The Supreme Court has been chaired since 2011 by an official from the ranks of the military institution. Judge Ye Lwin sentenced the former leading NLD executive and former political prisoner Win Htein to twenty years in prison for sedition in early November. M’s lawyersme Suu Kyi were not allowed to speak in public, but the defense last week got Win Htein to testify.
Lack of international support
Judge Ye Lwin distinguished himself during the period of civilian government between 2015 and 2021, marked by the tensions between the elected government of Aung San Su Kyi and the still all-powerful army. In 2019, he sentenced the two Burmese Reuters journalists to seven years accused of violating the law on official secrets by exposing the massacre of Rohingya villagers. But he also took into account during their trial a testimony capital for the defense, and embarrassing for the army: that of a police captain who proved that the journalists had indeed been victims of a trap. The sentences were heavy – but the two journalists were released less than a year later under a presidential pardon.
You have 49.25% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.