YANGON – Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to hear the first verdict in one of her corruption trials next week, a source close to the case said yesterday, where she faces a possible 15 years in jail.
The Nobel laureate has been detained since her government was forced out in a coup last year that triggered mass protests, and she faces a raft of charges that could see her sentenced to more than 150 years in jail.
The 76-year-old has already been handed a six-year sentence for violating Covid-19 rules and walkie-talkie import regulations, but this is the first of her corruption cases to return a verdict.
The junta court is expected to rule Monday on the allegation that she took a bribe from former Yangon chief minister Phyo Min Thein, a source with knowledge of the case said. A guilty verdict could mean a sentence of up to 15 years.
Journalists are barred from the proceedings, and her lawyers have been banned from speaking to the press.
In November, she and 15 other officials, including Myanmar’s former president Win Myint, were also charged with alleged electoral fraud during the 2020 elections.
Since the coup, many of her political allies have been arrested, with one chief minister sentenced to 75 years in jail. Others have gone into hiding.
Under a previous junta regime, Suu Kyi spent long periods under house arrest in her family mansion in Yangon. – AFP, April 20, 2022
