Published: Just now
Ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been sentenced to an additional six years in prison by a court in the military dictatorship’s Myanmar.
The trial was held behind closed doors and Suu Kyi’s lawyers have been banned from speaking publicly about the process. The charges relate to alleged corruption.
Suu Kyi has previously been sentenced to a total of eleven years in prison after the military junta deposed her popularly elected government on 1 February last year.
Political analysts suspect that the various accusations against Suu Kyi and her allies are a way to try to legitimize the coup and maneuver political opponents ahead of the elections that the military has promised to hold next year.
The takeover sparked nationwide peaceful protests that were put down with brutal military force. It has led to armed resistance from some groups and some experts describe the situation as a civil war. The military has been accused of a series of human rights violations such as murder, torture and airstrikes against civilians.