A Myanmar junta court jailed Aung San Suu Kyi for six years for corruption on Monday. This takes the former leader’s prison time to 17 years, a legal official said.
The 77-year-old figurehead of Myanmar’s opposition to military rule has been charged with at least 18 offences ranging from graft to election violations. The combined charges carry maximum jail terms of nearly 190 years.
Suu Kyi had addressed the accusations as absurd and denies all charges brought against her.
A junta court found her guilty of misusing funds from the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation – an organisation she founded promoting health and education – to build a home, and leasing government-owned land at a discounted rate, the source told news agency Reuters.
Suu Kyi has been charged with a total of 11 counts under the Myanmar’s anti-corruption act. Each count is punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a fine.
The two other cases decided on Monday involved pieces of land in Naypyidaw for which she allegedly used her authority to rent at low prices for her foundation. Suu Kyi received a sentence of three years for each of those cases.
Suu Kyi, 77, has been the face of opposition to military rule in Myanmar for more than three decades. The veteran leader won the 1991 Nobel peace prize while under house arrest.
Since last year, Myanmar has been undergoing tumultuous times after the military overthrew a democratically elected government led by Suu Kyi’s party. Her five years as democratically elected government leader were marked by repression and military dominance despite it being Myanmar’s most democratic period since a 1962 coup.
The international community has imposed sanctions on the military and dismissed Suu Kyi’s trials as a farce.
