YANGON: A Myanmar junta court sentenced ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to three years in jail “with hard labour” on Friday, for electoral fraud in the 2020 polls that her party won in a landslide, a source said.
The latest sentence, handed down by the closed court, takes the total jail time she is facing to two decades. She was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment with hard labour, a source with knowledge of the case said, adding that Suu Kyi, 77, appeared to be in good health.
Her lawyers would appeal the ruling, the source added.
Detained since a coup last year, Suu Kyi had already been convicted of corruption and a clutch of other charges by a closed junta court and sentenced to 17 years in prison.
Ex-president Win Myint, who was on trial for the same charge, also received a jail sentence of three years, the source said.
The military alleged widespread voter fraud during the November 2020 election, won resoundingly by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), although international observers said the poll was largely free and fair.
The military has since cancelled the result and said it uncovered more than 11 million instances of voter fraud.
Last month, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing said the military was being “lenient” on Suu Kyi and could have taken “more serious actions” against her.
Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2022
