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Aung San Suu Kyi Gets Four Years for Breaking COVID Restrictions

The veteran democracy campaigner was tried in a closed court

Aung San Suu Kyi has been sentenced to four years in prison for incitement and breaking COVID restrictions following secret court proceedings in Myanmar. The 76-year-old democracy activist, who previously spent 15 years in jail, faces a string of further charges, including illegal possession of walkie-talkies, that could see her jailed for the rest of her life. Her National League for Democracy party won a landslide victory in last year’s elections but the military junta seized power in a February coup and placed her under house arrest. The BBC reported that former president Win Myint was also sentenced to four years on the same charges. Legal proceedings have been conducted in closed court, with no access for observers. More than 10,600 people have been arrested by the junta since February, and at least 1,303 others killed, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Suu Kyi’s reputation as a peace icon was damaged by criticism of her handling of the 2017 Rohingya crisis, and in 2019 she appeared at the UN International Court of Justice, defending Myanmar against genocide allegations.