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Aung San Suu Kyi: Myanmar ousted leader sentenced to four more years in prison

A court in Myanmar sentenced ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to four more years in prison, in the latest of a series of trials.

She was convicted for the illegal possession and import of walkie-talkies and breaking Covid-19 rules.

Ms Suu Kyi was first convicted in December, and given a reduced jail sentence of two years.




She has been detained since a military coup last February and faces about a dozen charges, all of which she denies.

Her trials have been widely condemned as unfair.

The charges in the latest case stem from when soldiers searched her house on the day of the coup by forces led by army chief General Min Aung Hlaing.



The devices they say they discovered are presumed to have been used by her security guards, resulting in a conviction widely viewed as no more than a tactic to justify detaining her.

Monday’s trial in the capital, Nay Pyi Taw, was closed to the media and Ms Suu Kyi’s lawyers have been barred from communicating with the media and public.

Last month the Nobel laureate was found guilty of incitement of dissent and breaking Covid-19 rules, in what was condemned as a “sham trial” by UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet.

The latest sentence brings her total prison term so far to six years, but were she convicted of all the charges she faces, she could spend the rest of her life in detention.

The military’s seizure of power in Myanmar (also called Burma) last February came months after Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won November 2020 general elections by a landslide.

The military alleged voter fraud in the victory, however independent election observers have said the elections were largely free and fair.

The coup triggered widespread demonstrations and Myanmar’s military has cracked down on pro-democracy protesters, activists and journalists.

Ms Suu Kyi is one of more than 10,600 people to have been arrested by the junta since February, with at least 1,303 others killed in the demonstrations, according to the monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.