Burma locking up ex-leader 2 years

Suu Kyi sentencing prompts protests

BANGKOK — Aung San Suu Kyi, the civilian leader of Burma who was ousted in an unofficial coup this year, was convicted on two charges Monday and handed a four-year sentence that was quickly cut in half — in proceedings widely criticized as a further effort by the country’s military rulers to roll back the democratic gains of recent years.

The verdict — on charges of incitement and violating coronavirus restrictions — serves to cement a dramatic reversal of fortunes for the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner, who spent 15 years under house arrest for resisting the Southeast Asian nation’s generals but then agreed to work alongside them when they promised to usher in democratic rule.

The sentence reduction does not substantively change Suu Kyi’s fate, as she continues to face more serious charges with potential life sentences.

The 76-year-old Suu Kyi was arrested Feb. 1, the day the army seized power as it claimed widespread voting fraud in last year’s election. Her National League for Democracy party won that vote in a landslide, and independent observers did not detect

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any major irregularities.

Just as the takeover has been met with fierce resistance, so, too, was Monday’s verdict, including a spirited protest in the central city of Mandalay, where demonstrators chanted slogans and sang songs popularized during pro-democracy protests in 1988.

They also took to social media, which has been an important arena for resistance to the military. Htoo Ko, a doctor and popular travel blogger who is also an activist, wrote: “They have expended their maximum effort in carrying out evil. The people will be free only if we win the revolution, so work harder for the revolution.”

The cases against Suu Kyi are widely seen as contrived to discredit her and keep her from running in the next election, and many in the international community decried Monday’s verdict as a farce. If found guilty of all the charges she faces, Suu Kyi could be sentenced to more than 100 years in prison.

She is being held incommunicado by the military at an unknown location, and state television reported that she would serve her sentence there. Suu Kyi has been allowed only brief access to her lawyers; the government has not allowed even diplomats to see her.

The original four- year sentence was reduced hours after it was handed down in what the report said was an amnesty ordered by the country’s military leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing.

THE ACCUSATIONS

Suu Kyi is widely revered at home for her role in the country’s pro- democracy movement — and was long viewed abroad as an icon of that struggle, epitomized by her 15 years under house arrest.

But since her release in 2010, she has been heavily criticized for the gamble she made: showing deference to the military while ignoring and at times even defending rights violations — most notably a 2017 crackdown on Rohingya Muslims that rights groups have labeled genocide.

While she has disputed allegations that army personnel killed Rohingya civilians, torched houses and raped women and she remains immensely popular at home, that stance has tarnished her reputation abroad.

The incitement charge Suu Kyi faced centered on statements posted on her party’s Facebook page after she and other party leaders were detained by the military. She was accused of spreading false or inflammatory information that could disturb public order. She also faced a charge of violating coronavirus restrictions for her appearance at a campaign event ahead of the elections last year.

Dr. Sasa, spokesperson for the National Unity Government, an opposition group that has declared itself the country’s shadow administration, called the verdict “a shameful day for the rule of law, justice and accountability in Myanmar” and said it represented an effort to “replace our dreams with military dictatorship forever.”

Sasa uses only one name. Burma is often called Myanmar, a name that military authorities adopted in 1989, but regime opponents have refused to adopt the change, as have the U.S. and Britain.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called the proceedings a “sham trial,” while Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said it was just the beginning of a process that “will most likely ensure that Suu Kyi is never allowed to be a free woman again.”

The United States, Britain, the United Nations and the European Union all roundly condemned the verdict, describing it as political.

“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,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

Tom Andrews, the U.N. special rapporteur on Myanmar, said on Twitter: “The proceeding that today convicted Aung San Suu Kyi should not be confused with a trial — it is theatre of the absurd and a gross violation of human rights.”

China, a neighbor that has maintained friendly ties with Burma’s military leaders, declined to criticize the verdict but urged all parties to work together to continue the democratic transition.

CLOSED COURT

Suu Kyi’s trials are closed to the media and spectators, and her lawyers, who had been a source of information on the proceedings, were served with gag orders in October forbidding them from releasing information. As a result, Monday’s verdict was initially relayed to The Associated Press by a legal official who insisted on anonymity for fear of being punished by the authorities.

Defense lawyers are expected to file appeals in the coming days for Suu Kyi and two colleagues — Myanmar’s deposed president, Win Myint, and the former mayor of Naypyidaw, Myo Aung — who were also convicted Monday, the legal official said. The lawyers have argued that Suu Kyi and Myint could not be held responsible for the statements on which the incitement charge was based because they were already in detention.

February’s seizure of power was met by nonviolent nationwide demonstrations, which security forces quashed with deadly force. They have killed about 1,300 civilians, according to a detailed tally compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, and more than 7,000 have been arrested, charged or sentenced.

“There are many detainees without the profile of Aung San Suu Kyi who currently face the terrifying prospect of years behind bars simply for peacefully exercising their human rights,” said Ming Yu Hah, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for campaigns. “They must not be forgotten and left to their fate.”

Peaceful protests have continued, but amid the severe crackdown on them, an armed resistance has also grown, to the point that U. N. experts have warned that the country is sliding into civil war. The shadow government made up of Suu Kyi allies declared war on the military in September.

On Sunday, a military truck rammed into demonstrators in Rangoon before soldiers opened fire on the small crowd. At least five people were killed, according to local media outlets.

Monday’s verdict could inflame tensions even further.

“It doesn’t matter for the woman who doesn’t need anything. But the fires will burn hotter and hotter for the one who wants everything,” Zenn Khi, a well-known actor, wrote on Facebook, in a reference to Suu Kyi and her military antagonists.

Decisions in other cases against Suu Kyi are expected next week. They include the alleged unregistered import and use of walkie-talkies by her security guards, a violation of the Official Secrets Act and corruption charges.

The military says its takeover was lawful and not a coup because the 2008 constitution — implemented under military rule — allows it to take control in certain emergencies. It argues that the 2020 general election contained widespread irregularities and thus constituted such an emergency.

The state election commission and independent observers have disputed that there was substantial fraud. Critics also assert that the takeover bypassed the legal process for declaring an emergency.