Ousted Myanmar leader Suu Kyi jailed for another 7 years on corruption charges

Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to another seven years in jail as her long series of trials concluded on Friday.

After this sentence, the Nobel laureate is now facing more than three decades behind the bars.

A prisoner of the military since a coup last year, Suu Kyi, 77, has been convicted on every charge levelled against her ranging from corruption to illegally possessing walkie-talkies and flouting Covid restrictions.

She was sent behind the bars for seven years on the charges of corruption related to the hiring, maintaining and purchase of a helicopter for a government minister.

Journalists have been barred from attending the hearings and Suu Kyi’s lawyers have been blocked from speaking to the media.

The road leading to the prison holding Suu Kyi in the military-built capital Naypyidaw was clear of traffic ahead of the verdict, said the media report.

Last week, the United Nations Security Council called on the junta to release Suu Kyi in its first resolution on the situation in Myanmar since the coup.

It was a moment of relative unity by the council after permanent members and junta allies China and Russia abstained, opting not to wield vetoes following amendments to the wording.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power, ending the Southeast Asian nation’s brief experiment with democracy and sparking huge protests.

More than one million people have been displaced since the coup, according to the United Nations children’s agency.