Burma: junta sentences U Win Htein, close to Aung San Suu Kyi, to 20 years in prison
Win Htein, president of the National League for Democracy (LND), alongside the de facto Prime Minister Aung San Suu Kyi, arrested during the military coup of February 1, 2021. AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
The military in power in Burma on Friday (October 29th) sentenced a close associate of the dismissed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi to 20 years in prison for treason, his lawyer announced.
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U Win Htein was sentenced to 20 years in prison under section 124a by a special court
," lawyer Myint Thwin told AFP, adding that they would appeal.
The former MP is the first high-ranking member of the National League for Democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi's party, to be sentenced by the junta after a trial.
The 80-year-old man is a long-time political prisoner who has long campaigned against the military regime, both in detention and out of prison.
A man of international stature
Considered the right arm of Aung San Suu Kyi, he has often been requested by the international media - such as RFI - and national media to know the opinions of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
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Reread the interview with U Win Htein at RFI:
"We are used to peaceful struggle"
Before being arrested three days after the military coup of February 1, he told the Burmese media that the coup was not a manifestation of great wisdom and that its perpetrators "
drove (the country) in the wrong direction
”.
Aung Suu Kyi faces a
slew of charges
that could lead her to prison for decades, including both the illegal importation of walkie talkies and the failure to comply with anti-trafficking rules. coronavirus.
She testified for the first time in a junta court on Tuesday, four months after being tried by the military, a source familiar with the matter told AFP.
The media were not allowed to watch the leader's trial at the special court in Naypyidaw, the capital built by the generals, and the junta recently banned its legal team from speaking to the media.
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To read also: Burma: the junta arrests more than 100 people released during the amnesty
(With
AFP
)
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