(Photo : Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images)
BANGKOK, THAILAND - FEBRUARY 07: Protesters hold up portraits of Myanmar's de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and make three-finger saluts outside the United Nations headquarters on February 07, 2021 in Bangkok, Thailand. The United Nations Security Council affirmed its strong support of democracy in Myanmar in a statement released on Thursday, and demanded leaders arrested earlier this week in a military junta coup, including de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, be released.
Former Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi could reportedly spend the rest of her life in jail following the multiple charges filed against her.
According to reports, Kyi denied all the charges, but she was still sent to jail. Initially, Kyi was sentenced to four years behind bars for incitement and breaking COVID-19 rules during last year's election campaigns. This was later reduced to just two years behind bars.
However, the Nobel Peace Prize winner is still facing ten other charges that could send her to jail for the rest of her life.
Aung San Suu Kyi detained by military for ten months
According to CNN, the verdict didn't come as a surprise because Kyi was already detained by the military when it seized power earlier this year.
The former leader of Myanmar was kept in an undisclosed location even though her supporters believe she was given unfair treatment because of her political affiliations.
Following Kyi's imprisonment, the United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet denounced her conviction. However, Myanmar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs fired back by criticizing the U.N. for their one-sided judgments against the court's decision.
"It is not appropriate to make one-sided judgment against the decision of the court which falls within the domestic jurisdiction of a sovereign country. Such acts constitute interference in the judiciary process and internal affairs of Myanmar," a spokesperson said via Reuters.
Aung San Suu Kyi's supporters want her freed
As of press writing, Kyi still has thousands of supporters in Myanmar. However, analysts believe she's no longer the driving force behind the country's pro-democracy movement and anti-junta resistance. After all, the country's future is now being decided by the people, who desire freedom and rights to democracy.
On the other hand, Kyi's critics believe that she ruled through a cult of personality and said that she was reluctant to accept other viewpoints. Her ways of ruling were eventually rejected because Myanmar is a highly diverse nation with over 135 ethnic nationalities.
Former Myanmar leader made mistakes
David Mathieson, an independent analyst from Myanmar, said that one of Kyi's mistakes was that she didn't empower democracy from the grassroots up. Instead, she imposed democracy downward.
Paing Ye Thu, an activist and support of Kyi, said they would continue to treat her as their leader even though she's imprisoned and can't defend herself.
Thu was imprisoned for two years after her poetry and dance routine, which poked satirical fun at the military junta, was deemed offensive.
Aung Kyaw, who was beaten nearly blind by soldiers, couldn't help but laugh at Kyi's sentencing. After all, he also suffered a similar fate when he was placed in solitary confinement for eight months for filming their looting, according to The Daily Beast.
However, Thet Swe Win, a well-known peace activist, said that Kyi made mistakes in the past, especially for supporting the military's actions against the Rohingya minorities, so she's being punished. But Win said that the goal is to bridge differences and for justice to prevail.
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