dpa
Bangkok
Military-ruled Myanmar on Thursday sentenced former leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her Australian economics advisor Sean Turnell to three years in prison each for violating the official secrets act, judicial sources said.
It is the latest in a string of convictions Suu Kyi has faced since being ousted in a military coup in February 2021.
Before Thursday’s court ruling, the 77-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner had already been sentenced to a total of 20 years for corruption, incitement, breaching Covid-19 rules and electoral fraud.
She has been in solitary confinement in a prison in the capital Naypyidaw since June after being placed under house arrest in the wake of the military coup.
Turnell, a professor of economics at Macquarie University in Australia, was also arrested a few days after the junta took power.
He had served as an economic consultant to Suu Kyi’s civilian-led government.
The proceedings took place behind closed doors and Suu Kyi’s lawyers are not allowed to speak to the media. Sources familiar with the judicial proceedings spoke to dpa on condition of anonymity.
The cases have been widely denounced as military-staged show trials intended to discredit previous civilian leaders and bolster the junta’s own standing.
Myanmar has been in political turmoil since the coup on February 1, 2021. The military has violently cracked down on pro-democracy protests and civil society groups as it seeks to quash armed resistance by anti-junta militias across the country.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a rights group which documents killings and other abuses, at least 2,320 people have been killed and more than 15,600 arrested since the coup.
