YANGON, April 27 : A court in military-ruled Myanmar today found deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi guilty of corruption and sentenced her to five years in jail, according to a source with knowledge of the proceedings, Reuters reports.
The judge in the capital Naypyitaw handed down the verdict within moments of the court convening, said the source, who declined to be identified because the trial is being held behind closed doors, with information restricted.
The case centred on allegations that Suu Kyi, 76, accepted 11.4 kg (402 oz) of gold and cash payments totalling $600,000 from her protege-turned-accuser, former Yangon chief minister Phyo Min Thein. The case was the first of 11 corruption charges against the Nobel laureate, each carrying a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. The source declined to be identified because her trials are being held behind closed doors.
The Nobel laureate was arrested during the military’s coup early last year and has been found guilty of several comparatively minor offenses so far, among a multitude of charges that carry combined prison sentences of almost 190 years.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the February 1 coup against Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government led to widespread protests and raised international concern about the end of tentative political reforms following decades of military rule. – TVS
