Aung San Suu Kyi’s Aussie advisor jailed 3 years

NAYPYIDAW, 29 Sept 2022:

A military court in Myanmar sentenced deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her economic advisor, Australian Sean Turnell, to three years in prison today for violating the Official Secrets Act.

Sources related to this judicial process said Suu Kyi, 77, detained in a Naypyidaw prison, now faces 23 years in prison after being found guilty of various charges filed after a 1 Feb 2021 military coup – while she is still being tried behind closed doors for several cases of alleged corruption.

Turnell, an associate professor of economics at Macquarie University in Sydney, was working as an advisor to Suu Kyi when she was overthrown and arrested after the coup.

That expert, director since 2017 of the Institute for the Development of Myanmar, based in the capital Naypyidaw, was arrested five days after the military uprising that ended a decade of incipient democracy in the country.

The details of the crime committed by Suu Kyi and Turnell have not been specified by the military, although state television – under the control of junta – said last year that economist had access to “secret financial state information” and had tried to flee the country.

In addition to Suu Kyi and Turnell, the court also sentenced former ministers Soe Win, Sett Aung and Kyaw Win to three years in prison for breaking the same law.

The Australian government rejected the ruling against Turnell and called for his “immediate release.”

“Professor Turnell was tried in a closed court. Australia’s Chargé d’Affaires and consular officials in Myanmar made every effort to attend the verdict but were denied access to the court,” Australian foreign minister Penny Wong said in a statement.

“The Australian government has consistently rejected the charges against Professor Turnell during the more than 19 months he had been unjustly detained by the Myanmar military regime. We will continue to take every opportunity to advocate strongly for Professor Turnell until he has returned to his family in Australia.”

The military coup of February 2021 plunged the country into a deep political, social and economic crisis, and unleashed a spiral of violence with the formation of new civilian militias that have exacerbated the guerrilla war Myanmar has experienced for decades.

The army justifies the coup on alleged fraud during the November 2020 elections, the result of which was annulled and in which Suu Kyi’s party won a landslide victory, as it did in 2015, with the endorsement of international observers.

More than 2,300 people have died as a result of brutal repression by police and soldiers, who have even shot to kill peaceful and unarmed demonstrators, according to Myanmar nonprofit Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Separately, a beauty queen from Myanmar – critical of the military junta that governs the country – landed today in Canada, where she received asylum after being stranded for several days in a Thai airport.

Miss Grand Myanmar 2020 Han Lay said in a Facebook post she had “arrived safely in Canada today because of the love sent from fans and public”.

“As a new chapter, new life and new person, I will do my best to help my beloved Myanmar and the people of Myanmar as much as I can,” added the model, who was granted asylum in the country after being denied re-entry into Thailand.

The 23-year-old model, also known as Thaw Nandar Aung, captured global attention in March 2021 when she delivered an emotional two-minute message about the situation in her country during her speech at the Miss Grand International 2020 beauty pageant in Bangkok, representing Myanmar.

The model had been living in Thailand since last year after facing a backlash for her remarks. After a brief trip to Vietnam, she was denied re-entry and spent several days at the Bangkok airport due to a problem with her documents.

“There is no doubt that what transpired was a trap to try to force Han Lay to return to Myanmar, where she would have faced immediate arrest, likely abuse in detention, and imprisonment,” Nonprofit Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phil Robertson said in a statement today.

“Fortunately, she got good advice to stay put at the airport, and wait for the kind of protection she needed. This was a victory for rights, and refugee protection.”

The military has detained several Myanmar celebrities for their explicit support of pro-democracy dissenters, including actor and model Paing Takhon, who spent several months in prison.

– EFE