প্রকাশ: 10/01/2022
A court in Myanmar sentenced ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi
to four more years in prison on Monday after finding her guilty of illegally importing
and possessing walkie-talkies and violating coronavirus restrictions, a legal
official said.
Suu Kyi was convicted last month on two other charges and
given a four-year prison sentence, which was then halved by the head of the
military-installed government.
The cases are among about a dozen brought against the
76-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate since the army seized power last
February, ousting her elected government and arresting top members of her
National League for Democracy party.
If found guilty of all the charges, she could be sentenced
to more than 100 years in prison.
Suu Kyi’s supporters and independent analysts say the
charges against her are contrived to legitimize the military’s seizure of power
and prevent her from returning to politics.
Monday's verdict in the court in the capital, Naypyitaw, was
conveyed by a legal official who insisted on anonymity for fear of being
punished by the authorities, who have restricted the release of information
about Suu Kyi’s trials.
He said she was sentenced to two years in prison under the
Export-Import Law for importing the walkie-talkies and one year under the
Telecommunications Law for possessing them. The sentences are to be served
concurrently. She also received a two-year sentence under the Natural Disaster
Management Law for allegedly violating coronavirus rules while campaigning.
Suu Kyi was convicted last month on two other charges —
incitement and breaching COVID-19 restrictions — and sentenced to four years’
imprisonment. Hours after that sentence was issued, the head of the
military-installed government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, reduced it by half.
Suu Kyi’s party won a landslide victory in a 2020 general
election, but the military claimed there was widespread electoral fraud, an
assertion that independent poll watchers doubt.
Since her first guilty verdict, Suu Kyi has been attending
court hearings in prison clothes — a white top and a brown longyi skirt
provided by the authorities. She is being held by the military at an unknown
location, where state television reported last month she would serve her
sentence.
The hearings are closed to the media and spectators and the
prosecutors do not comment. Her lawyers, who had been a source of information
on the proceedings, were served with gag orders in October.
The military-installed government has not allowed any
outside party to meet with Suu Kyi since it seized power, despite international
pressure for talks including her that could ease the country’s violent
political crisis.
It would not allow a special envoy from the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations, of which Myanmar is a member, to meet her. The refusal
received a rare rebuke from fellow members, who barred Min Aung Hlaing from
attending its annual summit meeting.
Even Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, who took over as the
regional group’s chair for this year and advocates engagement with the ruling
generals, failed to meet her last week when he became the first head of
government to visit Myanmar since the army’s takeover.
The military’s seizure of power was quickly met by
nonviolent nationwide demonstrations, which security forces quashed with deadly
force, killing over 1,400 civilians, according to a detailed list compiled by
the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
Peaceful protests have continued, but amid the severe
crackdown, an armed resistance has also grown, to the point that U.N. experts
have warned the country could be sliding into civil war.
“The Myanmar junta’s courtroom circus of secret proceedings
on bogus charges is all about steadily piling up more convictions against Aung
San Suu Kyi so that she will remain in prison indefinitely. Senior Gen. Min
Aung Hlaing and the junta leaders obviously still view her as a paramount
political threat who needs to be permanently neutralized," said Phil
Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch.
“Once again, Aung San Suu Kyi has become a symbol of what is
happening to her country and returned to the role of political hostage of
military hell-bent on controlling power by using intimidation and violence,”
Robertson said in a statement. “Fortunately for her and the future of Myanmar,
the Myanmar people’s movement has grown well beyond just the leadership of one
woman, and one political party.”
Suu Kyi was charged right after the military’s takeover with
having improperly imported the walkie-talkies, which served as the initial
justification for her continued detention. A second charge of illegally
possessing the radios was filed the following month.
The radios were seized from the entrance gate of her
residence and the barracks of her bodyguards during a search on Feb. 1, the day
she was arrested.
Suu Kyi’s lawyers argued that the radios were not in her
personal possession and were legitimately used to help provide for her
security, but the court declined to dismiss the charges.
She was charged with two counts of violating coronavirus
restrictions during campaigning for the 2020 election. She was found guilty on
the first count last month.
She is also being tried by the same court on five counts of
corruption. The maximum penalty for each count is 15 years in prison and a
fine. A sixth corruption charge against her and ousted President Win Myint in
connection with granting permits to rent and buy a helicopter has not yet gone
to trial.
In separate proceedings, she is accused of violating the
Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years.
Additional charges were also added by Myanmar’s election
commission against Suu Kyi and 15 other politicians in November for alleged
fraud in the 2020 election. The charges by the military-appointed Union
Election Commission could result in Suu Kyi’s party being dissolved and unable
to participate in a new election the military has promised will take place
within two years of its takeover.
প্রধান সম্পাদকঃ সৈয়দ বোরহান কবীর
ক্রিয়েটিভ মিডিয়া লিমিটেডের অঙ্গ প্রতিষ্ঠান
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