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 Suu Kyi was handed a total of nine years in jail, 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 $550,000 from a construction tycoon. Suu Kyi’s legal team approached the top court after junta courts rejected her appeals. Suu Kyi denies all the charges.
In August, military chief Min Aung Hlaing pardoned five of 19 convictions against 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 alleging widespread fraud in a national election, in which her party won more than 80% 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, dashing hopes that a general election will be held this year as fighting has intensified with ethnic armed groups and supporters of Suu Kyi.
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.
