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Burma: Aung San Suu Kyi's trial enters its final phase

2022-12-20T09:41:38.465Z


In Burma, the very last arguments in the river trial of Aung San Suu Kyi will take place next week, a source said on Tuesday.


In Burma, the very last pleadings in the river trial of Aung San Suu Kyi will take place next week, a legal source told AFP on Tuesday, the final stage before the end of 18 months of hearings and heavy sentences. .

The former leader has been a prisoner since the army overthrew her government in February 2021, ending a brief democratic period in the Southeast Asian country.

She was sentenced to a total of 26 years in prison by the junta on 14 counts, ranging from corruption to illegal possession of walkie-talkies to failure to comply with health measures related to Covid-19. .

Many voices denounce a judicial harassment which would be based on political motivations, with the aim of definitively dismissing the daughter of the hero of independence and the big winner of the legislative elections of 2015 and 2020.

A country plunged into chaos

On December 26, the junta court will hear "

final arguments

" from both sides regarding the other five corruption charges, according to a source familiar with the matter.

"

The verdict will be given after this stage

," the source said, adding that a date had not yet been set.

Judgments in the previous parts of the trial have generally been delivered a few days after the closing arguments.

Read alsoBurma: why is Aung San Suu Kyi on trial?

The Nobel laureate, 77, appears to be in good health, the same source said.

Each corruption charge can be worth up to 15 years in prison.

Journalists were barred from attending the hearings and Aung San Suu Kyi's lawyers were banned from speaking to the media.

In June, Aung San Suu Kyi, who was under house arrest, was transferred to a prison in Naypyidaw, a correctional facility in the capital, where her trial continues behind closed doors before a special court.

Since the coup, she has been seen very rarely in shoddy photos taken by state media in the courtroom.

Burma has been in turmoil since the military took over.

Some established ethnic rebel groups have resumed fighting with the army in border areas and the economy is in tatters.

Read alsoDr Sasa: ​​“Burma, like Ukraine, is fighting for democracy and peace”

Dozens of "

People's Defense Forces

", at odds with Aung San Suu Kyi's strategy of non-violence, also appeared to fight the junta and surprised the military with their effectiveness, analysts said.

Almost daily, junior regime officials or fighters opposed to the generals are killed.

The army explained its putsch by claiming to have discovered more than 11 million irregularities during the legislative elections of November 2020, massively won by the National League for Democracy (NLD) of Ms. Suu Kyi.

International observers for their part described the election at the time as "

generally free and fair

".

Since the coup that plunged Burma into a bloody conflict, more than 2,500 civilians have been killed by the security forces, according to the count of a local NGO.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2022-12-20

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