Myanmar: EU condemns prison, hard labor sentencing for Aung San Suu Kyi

The Myanmar military court this week convicted ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi on charges of electoral fraud, more than a year since the generals seized power in a coup. The European Union condemned the sentencing of Suu Kyi and reiterated the call for her release.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell condemned the sentencing given to Suu Kyi after she was found guilty on charges of electoral fraud Friday last week. The junta-backed court sentenced Suu Kyi to an additional three years in jail including hard labor. Borrell said the sentencing by the court in its closed-door trial was “unjustified.”

“EU condemns the unjustified sentence of Aung San Suu Kyi to an additional three years of detention, with hard labor. She now faces 20 years imprisonment on eleven counts with several charges remaining. EU calls on the regime in Myanmar to release her and all political prisoners,” tweeted Borell.

Suu Kyi has been detained since the generals overthrew the elected government in a coup in February last year. Suu Kyi has denied any wrongdoing in the allegations the junta has made against her.

The French foreign ministry also condemned the sentencing of Suu Kyi in a statement released on its website. The ministry called the sentencing “politically motivated.”

“It was delivered by a judicial system in the hands of generals and shows the junta’s contempt for the rule of law and fundamental rights. The electoral fraud accusation on which the sentence is based aims to only justify the coup d’etat of 1 February 2021, which goes against the will of the Burmese people expressed democratically in the general election of 8 November 2020,” said the ministry, referring to Myanmar by its alternative name, Burma.

Malaysia’s foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah Monday called on the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations to act more urgently in the efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to Myanmar.

Saifuddin said he wrote to the ASEAN Secretary-General to ask for updates on the situation in Myanmar as he had yet to hear from the bloc’s leaders since the meeting in Cambodia last month.

Saifuddin added that the bloc cannot afford to wait until its next major conference in November to take urgent action. S

Saifuddin also called on the other member countries to decide on whether they would continue to work with the junta in providing humanitarian aid, citing that many humanitarian agencies in Myanmar were not willing to work with the military or organizations linked to the junta.