Aung San Suu Kyi partially pardoned, her prison sentence reduced by six years

2023-08-01 10:30:54

Myanmar’s former head of government, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been in detention since being ousted in a military coup in 2021. She was granted a pardon as part of a junta amnesty involving more than 7,000 prisoners, on the occasion of Buddhist Lent, state media reported on Tuesday. This pardon concerns five of the 19 convictions against her and “her sentence has been reduced by six years”, the junta’s spokesman said.

“The Chairman of the State Administrative Council has pardoned Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who was sentenced by the relevant courts, under the Human Rights Act,” the TV news reported. Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to 33 years in prison on a series of charges including bribery, possession of illegal walkie-talkies and breaching Covid restrictions.

From prison to a government building

She has only been seen once since being arrested after the February 1, 2021 putsch, in shoddy photos taken by state media in a courtroom at a court in Naypyidaw, the capital built in the jungle by the army.

The coup plunged the Southeast Asian country into a conflict that displaced more than a million people, according to the United Nations. Last week, Aung San Suu Kyi was transferred from her prison cell to a government building, according to a representative of her political party. Burma frequently grants amnesty to thousands of prisoners to celebrate Buddhist holidays.