A court in the military-run nation of Myanmar has sentenced Nobel laureate and deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi to a further three years in prison, bringing her total time behind bars to 26 years.
On Wednesday, a judge convicted the 77-year-old guilty of two counts of corruption and sentenced her to three years in jail on each count after she was charged with collecting bribes.
The accusations levelled against Aung San Suu Kyi have been considered absurd, and she has denied all of them.
She is being held in solitary confinement in the nation's capital, Naypyidaw, and all of her hearings have been conducted in secrecy. In the trial, she is also being accused of five more counts of corruption.
Al Jazeera's Tony Cheng said the claims against Aung San Suu Kyi were made by a well-known businessman who has had legal problems of his own in the past. Cheng was reporting from Bangkok.
“He said he visited her house on a number of occasions. Left parcels wrapped in black paper with sums ranging between 100 and 150,000 US dollars for her in return for preferential treatment in government tenders his company had made,” Cheng said.
“Those accusations were actually broadcast live on Myanmar TV after the coup. He himself is a rather dubious witness or witness of questionable quality. He’s previously served prison terms for drug possession. Nonetheless, she was found guilty on both charges today,” Cheng said.
According to Cheng, the goal of the court decisions and sentencing appeared to be to “completely from the political scene”.
Military opponents have long claimed that the accusations levelled against Aung San Suu Kyi are intended to prevent her from ever entering politics again or attempting to overthrow the military's hold on power.
According to the United Nations, more than one million people have been displaced since the coup in February 2021, and over 2,300 people have died and been imprisoned, according to monitors.
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