Myanmar civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to two years in prison after she was found to be guilty of two charges.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal:
The Nobel Peace Prize winner and leader of the country’s democracy movement has been tried behind closed doors. Ms. Suu Kyi, 76, was convicted of charges of incitement and violating pandemic rules, according to a person familiar with the case. The charges are among a dozen that could collectively see her imprisoned for the rest of her life.
Suu Kyi was given a four-year sentence at first, but it was cut in half by the junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing. She will reportedly carry out the sentence in the place she is currently being detained rather than in jail, according to the military’s public information office, per the Journal.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted about the sentencing, stating, “The military regime’s unjust conviction of Aung San Suu Kyi and repression of democratically elected officials are further affronts to democracy and rule of law in Burma. I call on the regime to end violence, respect the will of the people, and release the unjustly detained.”
The military regime’s unjust conviction of Aung San Suu Kyi and repression of democratically elected officials are further affronts to democracy and rule of law in Burma. I call on the regime to end violence, respect the will of the people, and release the unjustly detained.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) December 6, 2021
He also reportedly said in a statement, “The regime’s continued disregard for the rule of law and its widespread use of violence against the Burmese people underscore the urgency of restoring Burma’s path to democracy.”
As reported by The Daily Wire, Suu Kyi was taken into custody after the military took control of the country earlier this year. Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party were extremely successful in last year’s elections, but the military decided that the votes were inaccurate and took over.
The Myanmar junta has violently cracked down on protesters who are pushed back against the military takeover of the country.
Footage of violent protests came out in March showing “security forces shooting a person at point-blank range and chasing down and savagely beating demonstrators … In other footage, about two dozen security forces, some with their firearms drawn, chase two people wearing the construction helmets donned by many protesters down a street. When they catch up to the people, they repeatedly beat them with rods and kick them. One of the officers is filming the scene on his cell phone,” per the AP.
“Soldiers and police have killed more than 1,300 people and detained over 10,000 since the coup, according to the nonprofit Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. In the most recent clash on Sunday, security forces opened fire and rammed a truck into a crowd of protesters in Yangon, the country’s largest city,” the Journal noted.
“Ms. Suu Kyi was long hailed internationally as a defender of human rights, but her reputation was badly damaged because she didn’t protect Rohingya Muslims, a stateless minority that was targeted in a 2017 military offensive that United Nations investigators say was carried out with genocidal intent,” the outlet added.
Last month, a U.S. journalist was sentenced to prison for 11 years by a court in the military-controlled country.
As reported by Reuters, Danny Fenster is a 37-year-old American journalist and “managing editor of online magazine Frontier Myanmar.” He “was found guilty of incitement and violations of immigration and unlawful associations laws, his magazine said and described the sentences as ‘the harshest possible under the law.’”
The United States has been vocal against the treatment of Fenster, but the question remains as to whether or not it will take further action.
“The ruling today represents an unjust conviction of an innocent person,” a State Department spokesperson said in an email to Reuters at the time. “We are closely monitoring Danny’s situation and will continue to work for his immediate release.”