Myanmar Junta Court to Rule in Final Case Against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

By The Irrawaddy 27 December 2022

A junta courtroom in Naypyitaw Jail is ready handy down a ruling on Dec. 30 in a corruption case towards ousted President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the final in a slew of indictments filed towards the pair by Myanmar’s navy regime.

The case pertains to the rental and buy of a helicopter to be used throughout pure disasters and state affairs, together with rescues and emergencies.

The regime alleges that U Win Myint and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi broke the regulation and squandered authorities funds on the helicopter. The pair face 5 counts of corruption and as much as 15 years in jail if convicted. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has denied the fees, insisting she was “simply giving directions in keeping with workplace procedures.”

The scheduled date of the decision has prompted hypothesis that the 2 might need their lengthy jail sentences commuted when the regime grants an anticipated basic amnesty to mark the brand new yr and the seventy fifth anniversary of Myanmar’s Independence Day, which falls on Jan. 4.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has already been given 26 years in jail on 14 prices filed by the regime, and U Win Myint has acquired 5 years on three prices. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is being held in Naypyitaw Jail, and U Win Myint is believed to be underneath home arrest in a secret location in Naypyitaw.

Confronted with worldwide strain, the regime granted amnesties on the nation’s nationwide holidays final yr and this yr, and freed some political prisoners to mark the nation’s Nationwide Day final month. U Win Myint and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi weren’t eligible for launch underneath the amnesty because the pair had been nonetheless on trial on the time.

In its latest decision on Myanmar, the United Nations Safety Council demanded that the regime launch all political prisoners, together with the 2.

The regime would possibly take the chance supplied by the upcoming nationwide holidays to scale back their jail sentences in order to ease worldwide strain, recommend political observers, although it’s unlikely they’d be launched straight away.

The junta may additionally think about transferring Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to deal with arrest from her present solitary confinement in Naypyitaw Jail. Below earlier navy regimes, the civilian chief was solely positioned underneath home arrest, not saved in jail.

Final yr, the regime diminished U Win Myint and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s jail sentences by two years.

Legal professionals for the 2 sides made their closing arguments on the junta courtroom in Naypyitaw Jail on Monday, and the courtroom set the date for the decision as Dec. 30.

Each U Win Myint and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi have denied the fees, calling them baseless.

Former Myanmar Vice President Henry Van Thio of the ousted Nationwide League for Democracy (NLD) authorities testified towards the junta’s allegations through the earlier courtroom hearings within the case in Naypyitaw Jail. He mentioned the helicopter was bought according to procedures, and with state funds and donations from donors at house and overseas, a courtroom supply instructed The Irrawaddy.