Aung San Suu Kyi sentenced to four years in prison by Myanmar court

The former leader has been jailed since junta took over

Aung San Suu Kyi is still facing several accusations by the mililtary, including breaching the official secrets act. Photo: AFP

A court in military-ruled Myanmar has sentenced ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to four years in jail on charges including the possession of unlicensed walkie-talkies, a source familiar with the proceedings said.

Nobel laureate Ms Suu Kyi, 76, was on trial for nearly a dozen cases that carry combined maximum sentences of more than 100 years in prison. She denied all charges.

She was arrested shortly after a military junta took over Myanmar in a coup d'etat in February 2021 and declared a year-long state of emergency.

The military took control following a general election which Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won by a landslide.

Ms Suu Kyi’s detention, along with the arrests of several other politicians, caused protests across Myanmar that have continued over the past year, bringing thousands to the streets. The junta has cracked down on these protests, often with violence leading to hundreds of citizens being injured or killed.

The junta has over the last year accused Ms Suu Kyi and her party of winning the last election through voter fraud – a charge denied by the leader as well as the previous election commission and international monitors.

Ms Suu Kyi is still facing multiple counts of corruption, each of which is punishable by 15 years in jail, and of breaching the official secrets act. A junta spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun confirmed the verdicts and sentences and told journalists Suu Kyi would remain under house arrest while other cases against her proceed.

In November, she and 15 other officials, including Myanmar's then president Win Myint, were also charged with alleged electoral fraud during the 2020 polls.