Suu Kyi returns to trial after quarantine in Myanmar
Bangkok, Mar 31 (EFE).- Myanmar’s deposed leader and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi returned to face trial on Thursday following a week of quarantine after a close-contact contracted Covid-19 at her place of house arrest in Myanmar.
Defense officials told EFE that Suu Kyi, who was not infected, attended the special court established by the military junta in the capital of Naypyidaw, where faces charges of violating the Official Secrets Act, an offense punishable by up to 14 years of imprisonment.
The 76-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner has been sentenced to a total of six years in prison and still has several pending cases, forcing her to go to court several times a week.
Meanwhile appeals calling for her release continue of much of the international community.
Since being overthrown by a military coup in February 2021, Suu Kyi has been under house arrest in a secret location with hardly any contact with the outside world, except for brief meetings with her lawyers during the trials.
In December last year, Suu Kyi was sentenced to four years of imprisonment – reduced to two years after receiving pardon from the military junta – for violating the laws implemented against the pandemic and incitement against the military junta.
The overthrown leader was also sentenced on Jan.10 to four years in prison for disregarding measures against the spread of Covid-19 during an electoral event, and for the illegal import of telecommunications devices.
The former State Counsellor also stands accused of cases of corruption, punishable by up to 15 years in prison if found guilty.
Suu Kyi has pleaded innocent through her lawyers and several countries such as the United States, Japan, Malaysia, Canada, Germany, as well as the European Union and the United Nations, have called for her release.
The military coup has plunged Myanmar into a deep political, social and economic crisis, and opened a spiral of violence with new civilian militias that have exacerbated the country’s decades-old guerrilla war.
The army justifies the coup on grounds of alleged fraud during the general elections of November 2020, the result of which has been annulled and in which Suu Kyi’s party had won a landslide. EFE
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