However, this is the first time Suu Kyi — leader of the opposition to decades of military rule in the country — has been sentenced to hard labor since the country’s most recent military coup in 2021. She was given hard labor in a separate trial under a previous administration in 2009, but this sentence was commuted. Friday’s trial concerned the November 2020 general election that the National League for Democracy won in a landslide, defeating a party created by the military. Three months after those elections, the military seized power to prevent Suu Kyi’s party from forming a government, alleging electoral fraud. Suu Kyi and her party deny these claims and say they won the election fairly. She has also denied a number of other charges brought against her in a series of secret trials since she was detained more than a year ago. Suu Kyi is currently being held in solitary confinement in a prison in the capital Naypyitaw. Last month, state media in Myanmar reported that a court had sentenced her to six years in prison after convicting her of four counts of corruption. That verdict, which increased her total jail time to 17 years, coincided with a visit by the UN Special Envoy to Myanmar, who had come to investigate the deteriorating human rights situation in the country. Suu Kyi has also previously been found guilty of offenses ranging from bribery to election violations. Human rights groups have repeatedly raised concerns about the punishment of pro-democracy activists in the country since the 2021 coup. In July, the military junta executed two prominent pro-democracy activists and two other men accused of terrorism, following a trial condemned by the UN and human rights organizations. Additional reporting by Reuters.
