Myanmar reduces sentence for 78-year-old opposition leader to 27 years

Myanmar's military authorities have pardoned prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's 78-year-old ex-secretary of state, on five of 19 counts and reduced her sentence by six years, General Zhou Tong, spokesman for the state administrative council, told Eleven Media Group.

The term of ousted Myanmar President Win Myint was also reduced by four years. These steps were part of an amnesty that resulted in more than 7,700 prisoners being pardoned.

Aung San Suu Kyi, 78, will now have a 27-year sentence and remain under house arrest in the country's capital Naypyidaw, informed sources told Reuters .

По словам источника, приговоры, за которые она была помилована, были незначительными, включая нарушение закона о смягчении последствий стихийных бедствий при нарушении правил COVID-19 во время предвыборной кампании.

Дипломатический источник агентства назвал действия военных властей Мьянмы «косметическим шагом». «Это сигнал международному сообществу — без каких-либо существенных действий», — сказал он.

Aung San Suu Kyi was first placed under house arrest in 1989 after massive protests against decades of military rule. In 1991, she received the Nobel Peace Prize for fighting for democracy, but was finally released from house arrest only in 2010. She won the 2015 election, held as part of the preliminary military reforms, and her party won the next election in November 2020.

However, in 2021, the military regained power in Myanmar when they staged a coup d'état and detained President Win Myint, Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of the ruling National League for Democracy party. As a result, the Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar Armed Forces, Min Aung Hlein, became the de facto head of state. Aung San Suu Kyi called on her supporters to protest.

The military attributed its rise to power to electoral fraud after the 2020 vote and the failure of the government to resolve contentious issues, resulting in unrest in the country.