A MYANMAR JUNTA court has sentenced two close aides of ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi to two years in jail for sedition, a legal source told AFP.

The sentence, passed in a special court inside Yangon’s Insein prison, is the latest blow struck in the military authorities’ legal campaign against Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD).

The country has been in turmoil since February when the generals deposed Suu Kyi’s civilian government after the NLD won a general election.

Protests against the coup have been met with ruthless force, leading to the deaths of more than 1,300 civilians, according to a local monitoring group, and drawing stern criticism from world governments.

Senior NLD figures have been hit with criminal charges, including Nobel laureate Suu Kyi herself, who faces a battery of allegations including corruption and violating the official secrets act.

Two members of the NLD’s central committee — economic advisor Han Thar Myint and Thein Oo — were sentenced to two years’ imprisonment on Thursday, a legal source close to the case said.

Journalists have not been given access to court hearings and lawyers are banned from speaking to the media.

Earlier this month Suu Kyi, who spent years in detention under a previous military regime, was jailed for four years for incitement against the military and breaching Covid restrictions.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing later reduced the term to two years and said she would serve her sentence under house arrest in the capital Naypyidaw.

The EU said today that it supports an international arms embargo on Myanmar’s military regime and toughening its own sanctions following a massacre of more than 30 people last week.

“In view of the escalating violence in Myanmar, increased international preventive action is required, including an arms embargo,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.

© AFP 2021