Lagatar24 Desk
Yangon, April 27: Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s deposed civilian leader and Nobel laureate, was found guilty of corruption on Wednesday and sentenced to five years in prison, according to sources. The 76-year-old commander is accused of taking a bribe of $600,000 in cash and gold bars by a Myanmar junta court.
Suu Kyi was charged with the first of 11 counts of corruption, each of which carries a potential term of 15 years in prison. Because her trials were held behind closed doors, sources referenced by news organisations declined to be identified.
Journalists were still restricted from attending court proceedings, and Suu Kyi’s counsel were forbidden from speaking to the press.
Notably, Suu Kyi has been facing a barrage of criminal proceedings since a military coup toppled her administration in February last year, throwing the country into massive civil upheaval. The 76-year-old was already sentenced to six years in prison for inciting military retaliation, violating Covid-19 guidelines, and violating a telecommunications statute, but she will remain under house arrest while she fights other allegations.
According to a local monitoring group, more than 1,700 people have been killed and over 13,000 detained in a crackdown on opposition since the coup.
