Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced by a court on Thursday to three years in prison for breaching the country’s Official Secrets Act.
Meanwhile, Australian economist Sean Turnell was was also handed a three-year prison term for breaching the same law, reports AFP.
This adds to the existing 20 years jail she is serving for a range of offences, including electoral fraud, corruption and violating Covid-19 pandemic restrictions – charges widely thought to be trumped up to end her political career.
Turnell, a former economic advisor to Myanmar’s ousted civilian government, was detained shortly after the military coup in February 2021, and accused of having confidential documents in his possession. He pleaded not guilty.
Like many other people prosecuted by the military junta, the academic from Australia’s Macquarie University was tried under secretive conditions, with his lawyers barred from speaking to the media. He had faced up to 14 years in prison.
Myanmar’s military junta alleges that the 2020 general election won resoundingly by Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party is fraudulent and plans to hold fresh elections next year (2023).
However, it is grappling with resistance from new armed groups that have sprung up in response to the coup. The rival National Unity Government, composed of ousted parliamentarians and allied groups, claims that the junta now controls only half the country.
Over 12,000 people have been detained by the junta since the coup, according to data from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. At least 2,300 people have been killed.
Turnell is among a handful of foreign nationals who have been detained and charged by the Myanmar junta since the coup.
On Sept 2 this year, former British ambassador Vicky Bowman was sentenced to one year in prison for breaching immigration laws. She and her husband, Myanmar artist Htein Lin, were detained in August in Yangon, after they had returned from their home in Shan state. She was accused of failing to register a change of residential address.
American journalist Danny Fenster was arrested in May last year, and sentenced in November to 11 years in prison for incitement and violating Myanmar’s laws on immigration and unlawful associations. Days after his conviction, he was released and deported.
Meanwhile, Japanese freelance journalist Yuki Kitazumi was arrested in April last year and accused of spreading fake news. He was freed in May that year, a decision the junta-controlled media said was made “in consideration of cordial relations between Myanmar and Japan up to now and in view of future bilateral relations, and upon the request of the Japanese government special envoy on Myanmar's national reconciliationâ€.
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