Myanmar’s detained State Counsellor sentenced to another 3 years in prison

Detained State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to three years in prison by the military court in Naypydaw Prison on Wednesday, for two corruption cases involving charges of accepting money from businessman Maung Weit, according to sources close to the court who requested anonymity for security reasons.

Under Section 55 of the Anti-Corruption Law, she was sentenced to three years each for the two cases by Mandalay region judge Myint San. The sentences will be served concurrently.

Suu Kyi was previously sentenced to 23 years in prison for 12 cases, so she will now serve a total of 26 years in prison.

The trial was for two cases in which the State Administration Council (SAC) alleged that Suu Kyi accepted U.S.$ 500,000 in four installments as a donation to the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation to facilitate Maung Weit’s business operations.

When Suu Kyi’s lawyers gave her final plea at the trial on Oct.4 they said the money was donated by Maung Weit to the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation, which supports education, healthcare and rural investment.

They argued that Suu Kyi was innocent of corruption because the money that Maung Weit gave was found in the foundation’s bank account.

Aung San Suu Kyi testified at the trial on Sept. 20, saying that she was not guilty. When Maung Weit testified as a witness for the prosecution at the trial on May 31, he said he had donated the money solely to be used for the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation. He kneeled down and paid respect to Suu Kyi at the trial according to sources close to the court, who declined to be named for safety reasons.

Lawyer Gyi Myint told RFA the court’s decision to impose prison sentences is not in accordance with the law because Maung Weit testified in court about where the money went.

“The main thing that Maung Weit said is that he is donating to the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation,” he said.

“Aung San Suu Kyi cannot be punished with this since he did not give [the money] to Aung San Suu Kyi. There is no rule of law in Myanmar because [the junta] are punishing [her] even though [she] cannot be punished like that. It is proof that the judiciary is doing what the dictator asks.”

SAC Spokesman Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun previously told RFA that Suu Kyi would be judged for cases that are legally valid and that no one is above the law.

On Sept. 2, Suu Kyi was sentenced to three years in prison with hard labor for election fraud.

On Sept. 29, she was sentenced to three years in prison under Section-3 (1) (c) of the Myanmar Government Secrecy Act, along with Sean Turnell, an Australian citizen who served as an economic adviser during the National League for Democracy-led government, and three NLD ministers, who also received three-year sentences.

The fact that Suu Kyi’s cases are being ordered continuously is because of the personal hatred felt by SAC Chairman, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing and is being carried out in response to opposition from domestic and overseas groups, Bo Bo Oo, the NLD’s MP for Dala township in Yangon region told RFA.

“At present, all the people around the world are against them [the military regime] succeeding in diplomacy, in international relations, in building the administration, both on the international and on the domestic page. And all the governments of the world are against him [Min Aung Hlaing] because of this,” he said.

“If a bad guy doesn’t get what he wants, it is natural to take a hostage and moan louder, and that’s it”.”

He added that since the SAC illegally seized power on Feb. 1, 2021, the current court cases are also illegal.

78-year-old Suu Kyi faced trial in 19 cases after the military coup and has been sentenced to a total of 26 years in prison for 14 of the cases. The rest of the cases have yet to come to trial at the Naypyidaw Prison Court.

The cases that are still pending include the purchase and leasing of a helicopter from the Natural Disaster Management Fund to carry out disaster prevention activities under the NLD Government. There are still five corruption cases filed by the SAC.

Sources close to the court, who also requested anonymity, said an appeal to the High Court against Wednesday’s sentence will continue. They added that Suu Kyi appeared to be in good health during the trial.