Junta sentences ousted Myanmar leader Suu Kyi to five years in prison in controversial graft case

By DMG 27 Apr 2022

DMG Newsroom
27 April 2022, Naypyitaw 

Former State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of the deposed National League for Democracy (NLD) government has been sentenced to an additional five years in prison by Myanmar’s military junta under the Anti-Corruption Law, according to sources close to the court. 

A special court in Naypyidaw sentenced Daw Aung San Suu Kyi — accused of accepting a bribe of US$600,000 in cash and 11 kilogrammes of gold from U Phyo Min Thein, a member of her NLD and the former chief minister of Yangon Region — under Section 55 of the Anti-Corruption Law, said the sources. 

“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to five years in prison on corruption charges. She was charged with accepting gold bars and US dollars from the former chief minister of Yangon Region,” a source added. 

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will appeal the ruling, according to the legal team representing the ousted Myanmar leader. 

“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been sentenced to five years in prison on corruption charges and her lawyer will appeal,” said a source close to the former state counsellor’s legal team. 

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been charged with 17 counts since the military coup on February 1, 2021, and is already serving a lengthy sentence on previous guilty verdicts. Following Wednesday’s court ruling, she faces 11 years behind bars. More charges have yet to be adjudicated, including cases under the Official Secrets Act, inciting public unrest and misusing land for her charitable foundation, as well as breaching coronavirus public health restrictions. 

There has been widespread criticism of the raft of legal cases brought against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi since the coup, with those critics saying the prosecutions are politically motivated and intended to sideline her in the wake of the military takeover.