Burmese President Min Aung Hlaing yesterday cut all prisoners’ sentences by one-sixth, a blanket measure that a source close to deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi said would further shorten her detention.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been sequestered since a 2021 military coup, but the senior member of her dissolved National League for Democracy (NLD) party said that while her term had been reduced, her remaining sentence is still unclear.
“We also don’t know exactly how many years she has left,” the source told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
Photo: AP
The military toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government five years ago, sweeping her into detention on a host of charges that rights groups say were confected to sideline her and triggering civil war.
Since then Myanmar has been led by Min Aung Hlaing, first as military chief before he was this month sworn in as civilian president after a tightly restricted election excluding the NLD.
Democracy monitors described the process as a rebranding of military rule.
Photo: AP
A statement from Min Aung Hlaing’s presidential office said that to mark a public holiday yesterday, prisoners will “have their remaining sentences cut by one-sixth.”
It did not mention any prisoners by name, but the NLD source said that 80-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi “will also get one-sixth reduction of her remaining sentences.”
However, it remains unclear how much of her sentence is by now considered served, and therefore by how much her term would be trimmed.
She was initially convicted in closed-court trials and handed a sentence of more than three decades on charges ranging from corruption to breaching COVID-19 regulations.
A 2023 pardon of some of her convictions saw the Nobel Peace Prize laureate’s sentence reduced to 27 years.
In one of his first acts as civilian president, Min Aung Hlaing this month issued another public holiday blanket order nearly identical to yesterday’s, trimming more time off Aung San Suu Kyi’s sentence.
He also pardoned her top aide, Win Myint, who served as her ceremonial president, prompting speculation that her detention could be significantly relaxed.
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