Junta pardons Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar in five criminal cases
According to the nation’s state-run media, Aung San Suu Kyi will be pardoned. Aung San Suu Kyi, the imprisoned democratically elected civilian leader, has been granted mercy by Myanmar’s governing junta. President Win Myint, who was elected democratically, will also benefit from this mercy.
Since the February 2021 coup, both of these leaders have been detained. Suu Kyi was found guilty by the junta of 19 crimes, each carrying a 33-year jail term. She was accused of engaging in corruption, having unlawful walkie talkies, and violating coronavirus laws.
Her 33-year jail term was partially commuted by the junta by six years.
The head of the State Administration Council commuted Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s sentence after it was handed down by the appropriate tribunals, according to the state-run media outlet.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner and Win Myint will only have their sentences reduced; they will not be absolved of all of the alleged crimes.
According to a different story from news agency AFP, Suu Kyi was pardoned as part of a junta amnesty of more than 7,000 inmates to observe Buddhist Lent.
The new development comes after the junta placed former leader Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest after transferring her from a jail in the nation’s capital, Naypyidaw.
Even if part of the sentences against her were commuted, she was not entirely released. She still has 14 instances to deal with. Only five out of 19 instances received pardons, according to sources with knowledge of the situation, according to news agency AFP.
More than a million people have been displaced as a result of the ongoing fighting in Myanmar between the military and insurgents.
Although Aung San Suu Kyi has received pardons in five criminal charges, she still has to face 14 more.
The National Defence and Security Council (NDSC) of Myanmar voted to prolong the country’s state of emergency and the junta’s rule for another six months on Monday in Naypyitaw.
General Aung Min Hlaing, the head of the junta, has now prolonged the state of emergency four times.
