Bangkok: The political party led by imprisoned Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi criticised her most recent sentence and declared on Saturday that it would keep fighting the junta that controls the court that handed it down.
Suu Kyi was sentenced to seven years in prison for corruption on Friday, capping a string of junta court trials that rights groups have criticised as being bogus. The 77-year-old Nobel laureate has now received a sentence totaling 33 years in prison. Win Myint, a former president and ally of Suu Kyi, was given the same punishment on Friday.
The central committee of the National League for Democracy (NLD) declared in a statement that the judge chosen by the junta "did not respect the law." When they were in power, Win Myint and Aung San Suu Kyi "worked for the country's development and they worked according to the law."
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In order to end the military dictatorship, free all political prisoners, and pursue justice, the NLD promised to "continue working with the people."
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The military's coup, which resulted in massive protests and a bloody crackdown, cited alleged widespread voter fraud during elections in November 2020, which were resoundingly won by the NLD.
The elections were largely free and fair, according to international observers at the time. The February 2021 coup destroyed the NLD, leaving many senior members behind or imprisoned.
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Since then, according to rights organisations, Myanmar has been in chaos as the junta has destroyed villages, carried out widespread extrajudicial killings, and attacked civilians with aircraft.