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Asian Angle | Why Myanmar’s brutal military junta can never defeat Aung San Suu Kyi
- The military – which toppled Suu Kyi, now 78, in a 2021 coup – has reduced her jail term by 6 years, but she still faces over 25 years behind bars
- The gesture and others, like releasing prisoners, is an empty one – and not enough to alter how the regime is viewed on the international stage
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In a general amnesty announced recently on state television, Myanmar’s military junta removed six years from the jail term of Aung San Suu Kyi, the 78-year-old leader of the government removed by a coup in February 2021. This came a week after the junta had moved her into house arrest following a year in solitary confinement.
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But it still leaves Suu Kyi facing a 27-year jail term on bogus charges.
The junta also lopped four years off former president Win Myint’s sentence, and reportedly released more than 7,000 other prisoners.
But we should not be persuaded that the generals have changed their stripes. The junta regularly uses mass amnesties in an attempt to cultivate goodwill at home and abroad. But any prominent figures released in these amnesties should not have been locked up in the first place.
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Myanmar junta pardons ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, ex-president Win Myint after postponing polls
Myanmar junta pardons ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, ex-president Win Myint after postponing polls
The day before the amnesty, the junta extended its state of emergency for a fourth time due to the relentless opposition to its coup, further delaying elections.
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