Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi Jailed For Seven More Years

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Facts

  • The deposed leader of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been sentenced to a further seven years in prison by the country's governing military junta. The latest verdict, on charges of corruption, means the 77-year-old faces a total of 33 years in prison.
  • According to an anonymous source familiar with the trial, Suu Kyi was found guilty of five counts of corruption, specifically relating to the lease and use of a helicopter while she was the de facto leader of Myanmar.
  • Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi was removed as Myanmar's state counselor in Feb. 2021 at the start of a military coup. She has since faced imprisonment and solitary confinement and has been charged with accepting bribes and other kinds of corruption.
  • Friday's verdict resulted from allegations that the former state counselor had neglected to follow financial regulations when she allowed Win Myat Aye — a cabinet member in Suu Kyi's government — to hire, buy, and maintain the helicopter. It saw Myanmar's courts conclude the various cases charged against Suu Kyi.
  • According to Richard Horsey, a senior advisor for the International Crisis Group, the results of the trial were "unsurprising" as the process was, "purely a show trial." He claimed that the junta regime's aim was "to silence Aung San Suu Kyi and remove her from the political landscape."
  • Granting the international community access to Suu Kyi has long been a key demand among critics of Myanmar's military regime. Statistics from an NGO called Assistance Association for Political Prisoners have said security forces have so far killed at least 2,685 civilians and arrested 16,651 since the coup.

Sources: Times, Sky News, Guardian, Al Jazeera, New York Times, and NBC.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Pen. The passage of the BURMA Act — included in broader annual defense legislation under Biden's administration — introduced targeted sanctions of the military junta to help support those working towards the shoring up of democracy in Myanmar. Under Biden's leadership, the US has clearly signaled its solidarity with the people of Myanmar and its willingness to hold the nation's military accountable for countless human rights violations.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Bloomberg. The US is continuing to fail to take an effective stance against human rights abuses in Myanmar. American officials only throw humanitarian crumbs towards populations who lack proxy value, while giving billions to big-ticket, election-friendly issues like the Russia-Ukraine war. Issues affecting Europe remain a priority, as 55M people in Myanmar struggle to stay alive and eke out an existence under an unforgiving dictatorship.