Myanmar coup: Junta leader says Aung San Suu Kyi may return home after verdicts

Myanmar’s ousted leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, is currently being tried for the charges brought against her by the military generals who seized power more than a year ago. Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing said Suu Kyi may be allowed to return home after the verdicts are given.

Friday last week, Min Aung Hlaing said Suu Kyi could be considered to return to house arrest from prison, but only after the verdicts on the cases against the ousted leader were given. Suu Kyi is currently detained in a jail in Naypyitaw, where she was moved back in June in solitary confinement. Suu Kyi has spent half of the last 30 years under house arrest.

Since the generals overthrew the elected government, they charged Suu Kyi with at least 18 offenses, from graft to election law violations. The ousted leader and Nobel laureate has already been sentenced to several years in prison. Suu Kyi has denied any wrongdoing and called the accusations by the generals “absurd.”

Min Aung Hlaing’s remarks were in response to the request made by the top UN official who visited Myanmar last week, asking for Suu Kyi to be allowed to return home.

“I will consider the matter…after the verdict is done,” said the coup leader in a statement. “We did not impose strong charges on her and showed mercy even though we were able to do more.”

Myanmar remains to be under civil and political unrest since February last year, when the generals seized power, leading to widespread protests in the country. The military staged a brutal crackdown on those who protested the coup, killing hundreds and detaining thousands.

The latest sentence given to Suu Kyi was met with condemnation, especially from France. The French foreign ministry condemned the Myanmar court’s sentencing of Suu Kyi to six more years in prison after being found guilty of four out of six corruption charges the military pressed against the ousted leader.

“Once again, the military junta is seeking to undermine the legitimacy of democratically elected opposition members, contrary to the constructive political dialogue the Burmese people and international community wish to see,” said the ministry in a statement, referring to Myanmar by its other name, Burma.