Naypyidaw: Myanmar has reduced Aung San Suu Kyi's sentence again, to just over 18 years in prison. Members of the legal team representing Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained former civilian leader of Myanmar, revealed on Thursday that she has received a one-sixth reduction in her remaining sentence under a pardon, marking the second reduction in just two weeks. This leaves the former Nobel Peace Prize laureate with only about 18 years remaining in her prison term, after being detained since the 2021 coup.
According to Thai News Agency, after a lengthy trial, 80-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to a total of 33 years in prison on charges ranging from corruption and incitement to electoral fraud to violations of the Official Secrets Act. Her allies maintain that the prosecution was politically motivated to sideline her from politics. The sentence had previously been reduced to 27 years and then by a third in a New Year's pardon on April 17th, which also granted freedom to former President Win Myint and other key ally who were co-defendants.
This latest sentence reduction comes after state media announced on Thursday that all prisoners would receive reduced sentences. However, the exact location of Aung San Suu Kyi's detention remains unknown, and she has not been seen in public since the end of her trial. She is being held in secret, and the government has not allowed her legal team or family members to visit her in person.