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Aung San Suu Kyi has been sentenced to four more years in prison today after a court in Myanmar found her guilty of the possession of unlicenced walkie-talkies, in addition to flouting COVID curbs.
This comes as Myanmar continues to languish in a turmoil since last year's military coup that overthrew her democratically elected and civilian government.
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Deposed Burmese leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, is again slapped with a hail of charges.
In addition to having been convicted of two other charges and given a four-year prison sentence, which was then halved by the head of the military government, Suu Kyi is now faced with at least three more charges.
This, as she was found guilty of illegally possessing unlicenced walkie-talkies, as well as breaching anti-virus restrictions on the heels of last year's military coup and a concatenation of events that culminated in the ouster of her democratically-elected and civilian government.
Suu Kyi's supporters and pundits pointed out that her ouster was politically motivated, and that the charges against her are contrived to legitimise the military's seizure of power and prevent her from returning to politics.
Today's verdict in the Burmese capital of Naypyidaw was conveyed by a legal official who said on anonymity that she was sentenced to two years in prison under the Export-Import Law for importing the walkie-talkies via illegal means, and one year, pursuant to the Telecommunications Law for possessing them. The sentences are to be served concurrently.
According to the court, she also received a two-year sentence for flouting coronavirus rules while campaigning.
Suu Kyi's party, NLD, won a landslide victory in a 2020 general election, which was expected to see her take over the reins of government and call all the shots.
Be that as it may, it was the military which eventually took over the country because it claimed there was widespread electoral fraud, as assertion that has been at issue.
Members of the NLD had failed to circle the wagons prior to Suu Kyi's ouster as the megalomaniac Burmese military seized control of the country in a lightning blitz, which rendered the country stuck in a crucible with nationwide demonstrations. The demonstrations were quelled with deadly force, which claimed at least 1,400 civilian lives.
Protests have continued, albeit peacefully, as the military junta warned that soldiers could be dispatched on short notice to quell any violent demonstrations.
The 76-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been considered the cream of human rights activists across every nook and cranny of the world as she's been game for challenges that had her spending years under house arrest under Myanmar's previous military regimes.
If she were to be found guilty of all the charges, she would be sentenced to more than 100 years in jail.
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