Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been found guilty on more corruption charges and jailed for another six years.
The trial in the military-ruled country was held behind closed doors and her lawyers were forbidden by a gagging order from revealing information about the proceedings.
The 77-year-old has been in detention since February 2021 when the military seized power in Myanmar in a coup.
On Monday a court convicted the deposed leader in four corruption cases, a source with knowledge of the proceedings told the Reuters news agency.
Ms Suu Kyi was found guilty of misusing funds from the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation – an organisation she founded promoting health and education – to build a home, and leasing government-owned land at a discounted rate.
She denied all the charges, and her lawyers are expected to appeal.
Ms Suu Kyi has already been sentenced to 11 years in prison on sedition, corruption and other charges at earlier trials after the military ousted her elected government and detained her in February 2021.
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Analysts say the numerous charges against her and her allies are an attempt to legitimise the military’s seizure of power while eliminating her from politics before the military holds an election it has promised for next year.
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Other top members of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party and her government have also been arrested and imprisoned, and the authorities have suggested they might dissolve the party before the next election.
“It’s a massive assault against her rights, and part of the campaign to bury her and the NLD forever,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
