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Aung San Suu Kyi
Photo: SOE ZEYA TUN / REUTERS
The European Union has denounced the military junta's sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar to a total of 33 years in prison as "purely politically motivated".
An EU spokesman said on Friday in Brussels that the trials against the ousted de facto head of government were "carried out without regard to due process or the necessary legal guarantees."
They are "a clear attempt to exclude democratically elected leaders from political life."
The EU spokesman also criticized the sentencing of Suu Kyi's co-defendant, ex-President Win Myint, to a total of 12 years in prison.
The US State Department also denounced the recent verdict against Suu Kyi as an "affront to justice and the rule of law" and called for her release.
Richard Horsey, Myanmar expert at the International Crisis Group (ICG), spoke of the "end of a judicial farce".
The question now is how to proceed with Suu Kyi, whether she will remain under house arrest and whether she will be allowed to meet foreign envoys.
"But the regime is unlikely to be in any particular rush to make such decisions," Horsey said.
Suu Kyi was sentenced on Friday to an additional seven years in prison on the final count of her 18-month trial.
As the AFP news agency learned from judicial circles, she was found guilty of five counts of corruption.
The 77-year-old is now sentenced to a total of 33 years.
The military overthrew Suu Kyi's elected government in the Southeast Asian country in February 2021 and took power again.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner has since been found guilty of all charges against her.
The allegations ranged from corruption to the illegal importation of walkie-talkies to violations of the Official Secrets Act.
dop/AFP