Aung San Suu Kyi’s sentencing slammed by Human Rights Watch; asks junta to quash verdict

On Wednesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated that Myanmar's junta should immediately overturn the verdict against Aung San Suu Kyi, who was sentenced to four years in prison on the charges of inciting public unrest and violating COVID-19 restrictions. However, on Monday, December 6, her sentence was slashed from four to two years following a partial pardon by the Myanmar junta chief, Min Aung Hlaing. "Aung San Suu Kyi's guilty verdict has been guaranteed since Myanmar's military detained her on February 1, and more baseless convictions and sentences can be expected to be piled on in the future," Brad Adams, Asia director at HRW, was quoted by ANI as saying. 

Adams went on to say that the junta is using the fake court case to eliminate all dissent to military dictatorship. The junta should immediately release Suu Kyi and all others facing politically unjustified charges, he added. 76-year-old Suu Kyi, who was Myanmar's leader until the February military coup, faces a total of 10 politically motivated charges, including possession of unregistered walkie-talkies, corruption, and election fraud, with a total potential penalty of more than 100 years in prison. 

Aung San Suu Kyi was detained on Feb 1

On February 1, the military detained Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the then ruling National League for Democracy, as well as the party's other prominent officials in order to annul the results of the November 2020 democratic elections. Suu Kyi's trial began on June 14 in Naypyidaw and the journalists and observers were excluded from the special court. In addition, her lawyers were also barred from communicating with the media and the general public. Meanwhile, Suu Kyi's supporters claim that the charges against her are false, and they are being used to destroy her political career.  

It is pertinent to mention here that the Myanmar junta, which claims to be Myanmar's legal government, asserts that its takeover was not a coup, but a vital and legal response to "danger to sovereignty" posed by Suu Kyi's party. According to data from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), almost 1,200 people have been killed since the military takeover took place in February. Following the military's seizure of power, tens of thousands of people were detained during brutal protests in the country. 

(With ANI inputs)

Image: AP