A Myanmar military court sentenced the country’s former leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to five years in prison.
The sentencing is the first of 11 corruption charges the Myanmar military has charged Suu Kyi with since its takeover last year.
The judge in the capital handed down the verdict within moments of the court convening and did not explain the reasoning for the charges, according to Reuters. The allegations regarded claims that Suu Kyi had accepted gold and cash payments valued at $600,00 from her accuser Yangon Chief Minister Phyo Min Thein.
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Suu Kyi declared the accusations “absurd” and denied all charges against her.
Suu Kyi led Myanmar for five years before she lost power in Feb. 2021 after the military seized power. She has been charged with at least 18 offenses, which could add up to a maximum jail sentence of 190 years if she is found guilty. She has already been sentenced to eight years in prison based on other charges.
The international community has declared Suu Kyi’s trials “farcical” in nature, saying they will not likely end well for the former Myanmar leader.
“Myanmar’s junta and the country’s kangaroo courts are walking in lockstep to put Aung San Suu Kyi away for what could ultimately be the equivalent of a life sentence, given her advanced age,” Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, told the Guardian.
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It is unclear if Suu Kyi would be transferred to a prison, as she has been held in an undisclosed location.
