Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi sentenced to 5 year prison for corruption 

A court in Myanmar's military-ruled country sentenced deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi to five years jail term on Wednesday after finding her guilty in the first of 11 corruption cases against her.

The Nobel Laureate and symbol of Myanmar's opposition to military rule has been charged with at least 18 felonies, each carrying a maximum sentence of over 190 years in prison, effectively putting an end to any hope of a political comeback.

According to the source, the judge in the capital, Naypyitaw, handed down the judgement moments after the court convened and gave no explanation, because the trial is being held behind closed doors and information is limited.

Myanmar’s state media has not reported developments in Suu Kyi’s multiple legal cases, and in October authorities barred her lawyer from speaking about them to media, diplomats, international organizations and foreign governments.

Suu Kyi, 76, led Myanmar for five years during a brief period of fledgling democracy until being deposed by the military, which has ruled the former British colony for five of the previous six decades, in a coup in February 2021.

It was uncertain whether she would be moved to a prison to serve the rest of her term. She has been imprisoned in an undisclosed location since her arrest, where junta chief Min Aung Hlaing had stated that she may stay following her convictions in December and January for comparatively minor offences, for which she was sentenced to a total of six years.

Emailed requests for comment to Myanmar's ministry of legal affairs, ministry of information, and Supreme Court were not immediately returned.

The most recent case involved charges that Suu Kyi got 600,000 USD in gold and cash from her protégé-turned-accuser Phyo Min Thein, the former chief minister of Yangon.

Suu Kyi has called the allegations "absurd" and has refused all charges levelled against her, including electoral and state secrets legislation violations, incitement, and corruption.

Suu Kyi's days as a free woman were virtually finished, according to Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

"The junta in Myanmar and the country's kangaroo courts are marching in lockstep to imprison Aung San Suu Kyi for what could end up being the equivalent of a life sentence, given her elderly age," he stated.

"Destroying Myanmar's popular democracy also means removing Aung San Suu Kyi, and the junta is taking no chances."

The military has been sanctioned, and Suu Kyi's trials have been condemned as ludicrous by the world community. Requests for comment to the US and British embassies in Myanmar were not immediately returned.

Suu Kyi allegedly committed crimes and is undergoing due process before an impartial judiciary, according to the military, which dismisses outside criticism as interference.

The junta has refused to let her come, even if it is accompanied by a special Southeast Asian ambassador tasked with resolving the problem.

According to Tun Aung Shwe, a member of the shadow National Unity Government, which has launched a people's revolution against military rule, Suu Kyi's conviction proves that the junta "has no intention to resolve the matter amicably."

He described it as "another action that closes the door to political dialogue."