Cases against Aung San Suu Kyi have been politically motivated
Responding to the latest seven-year sentence handed down to Aung San Suu Kyi for alleged corruption, Amnesty International’s Regional Director Meg de Ronde said:
“From start to finish, the trumped-up cases against Aung San Suu Kyi have been politically motivated, unfair, and completely lacking in anything resembling transparency. The same goes for the charges against the thousands of others languishing behind bars in Myanmar’s notorious prisons and interrogation facilities across the country.
“Since seizing power almost two years ago, Myanmar’s military has turned the courts and prison system into a human rights inferno in which journalists, activists, politicians, doctors, protesters and many others are jailed for nothing more than peacefully expressing dissent.
“The fact that this verdict comes less than 10 days after a rare rebuke from the UN Security Council demanding an end to the violence and the release of arbitrarily detained prisoners shows that more pressure on the Myanmar military is needed and fast.
“The UN Security Council should impose a comprehensive arms embargo, including on aviation fuel, and targeted sanctions against military leaders. The international community can and must do more to support the people of Myanmar.”
Background:
Ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s latest conviction on corruption charges on 30 December 2022 means she faces a total of 33 years in prison, according to reports. Suu Kyi was arbitrarily detained at the start of the coup on 1 February, 2021.
Myanmar’s military has arrested more than 16,000 people since the start of the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. It has also executed four people in its first use of the death penalty in decades.
