Myanmar top court rejects Aung San Suu Kyi’s corruption conviction appeals

YANGON – Myanmar’s Supreme Court rejected appeals by Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyers to overturn her

conviction in some corruption cases

brought against the ousted leader by the military regime.

The top court turned down the appeals in six cases in which Ms Suu Kyi was handed a total of nine years in jail, Mr Zaw Min Aung, director-general of the court, said by phone on Friday. He declined to provide further details.

Lawyers for the Nobel laureate sought to overturn the convictions – four of which were related to donations for a charity named after her mother and two for receiving US$550,000 (S$750,000) from a construction tycoon.

Ms Suu Kyi’s legal team approached the top court after junta courts rejected her appeals. Ms Suu Kyi denies all the charges.

In August, military chief Min Aung Hlaing

pardoned five of 19 convictions

against Ms Suu Kyi as part of a national amnesty. She was still left to serve a total of 27 years in jail, a person familiar with the matter then, said.

The 78-year-old was

detained after the military seized power in February 2021,

alleging widespread fraud in a national election, in which her party won more than 80 per cent of available seats. Independent poll monitors found no major irregularities.

The military government has extended the state of emergency for another six months until Jan 31, 2024, dashing hopes that a general election will be held in 2023, as fighting has intensified with ethnic armed groups and supporters of Ms Suu Kyi. BLOOMBERG