Myanmar court sentences Suu Kyi to 3 years for voting fraud

BANGKOK
September 02, 2022, 11:37 AM
by AP/UNB

UNB News
BANGKOK
Publish- September 02, 2022, 11:37 AM
AP/UNB

Myanmar court sentences Suu Kyi to 3 years for voting fraud

FILE - Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi waits to address judges of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, Dec. 11, 2019. Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi has testified in a prison courtroom in the capital Naypyitaw for the first time in her official secrets case. Suu Kyi, who has been detained since her government was ousted last year by the military, is being tried with Australian economist Sean Turnell and three former Cabinet members on the same charge, which is punishable by up to 14 years in prison. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)

A court in Myanmar on Friday sentenced the country’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to three years' imprisonment after finding her guilty of involvement in election fraud.

The ruling adds more jail time to the 17 years she is already serving for other offenses. It also imperils the survival of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party following the government’s explicit threats to dissolve it before a new election the military has promised will take place in 2023

Also read: Myanmar’s Suu Kyi testifies in election fraud trial

Suu Kyi’s party won the the 2020 general election in a landslide victory. The military seized power from Suu Kyi’s elected government on Feb. 1, 2021, saying it acted because of alleged widespread voter fraud. Independent election observers did not find any major irregularities.

Two senior members of Suu Kyi's former government were co-defendants in the case and also received three-year prison sentences.

Also read: Myanmar says Suu Kyi held alone in new prison quarters