January 10: On Monday, a military-ruled Myanmar court sentenced the deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi to four years in prison for possession of an unlicensed walkie-talkie, a person familiar with the matter said.
Rights groups criticized her as a farce and the latest verdict in a “court circus” lawsuit means she will face six years in prison after being convicted twice last month.
She is on trial in nearly a dozen cases that carry combined maximum sentences of more than 100 years in prison. She denies all charges.
Nobel laureate Suu Kyi, 76, appeared calm when the verdict was read out on Monday in a court in the capital, Naypyitaw, said another source with knowledge of the court proceedings.
Aung San Suu Kyi was detained on the day of the coup on February 1. A few days later, the police said that six illegally imported walkie-talkies were found during a search of her home.
The court sentenced her to two years’ imprisonment for possession of a hand-held radio in violation of import and export laws and a set of signal jammers for one year. The source said that these two sentences will run at the same time.
The source said that she was also sentenced to two years in prison for another violation of the Coronavirus rules related to natural disaster management law.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the coup against Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government led to widespread protests and signalled the end of 10 years of tentative political reforms that followed decades of strict military rule.
On Dec. 6, she received a four-year jail sentence for incitement and breaching coronavirus rules.
That sentence, which was later reduced to two years, was met by a chorus of international condemnation.
Rights group Amnesty International said on Twitter on Monday the new convictions were “the latest act in the farcical trial against the civilian leader”.
It called for her release along with thousands of others “unjustly detained” since the coup.
