Aung San Suu Kyi receives partial pardon from junta
Myanmar's former leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been pardoned on five of the 19 offenses for which she was convicted and jailed for a total of 33 years, state media reported on Tuesday (August 1). - REUTERS
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00:00 Myanmar's former leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has received a partial pardon for the country's
00:05 ruling military junta. According to state media reports, five of her 19 convictions
00:11 have been overturned, reducing her 33-year prison sentence by six years.
00:17 The 78-year-old denies all charges against her and has been appealing against them. These
00:23 range from incitement and election fraud to corruption. One diplomatic source described
00:28 the pardons as a "cosmetic move." But a junta spokesperson said it was part of a countrywide
00:34 amnesty involving freeing more than 7,000 prisoners.
00:38 The noble laureate has been in detention since she was ousted in a coup in early 2021. Just
00:44 last week, Suu Kyi was moved from prison to house arrest.
00:49 The military junta also partially pardoned former President Win Myint, who was arrested
00:53 at the same time. Both Suu Kyi and Win Myint are to remain under house arrest, according
00:59 to an informed source.
01:01 Suu Kyi, the daughter of Myanmar's independence hero, was first put under house arrest in
01:07 1989 after huge protests against decades of military rule. In 1991, she won the Nobel
01:13 Peace Prize for campaigning for democracy and was only fully released from house arrest
01:18 in 2010.
01:20 Suu Kyi swept a 2015 election, held as part of tentative military reforms. Her party then
01:26 went on to win again in November 2020. But the military complained of election fraud,
01:32 claiming it had to take power to ensure the complaints were investigated. Suu Kyi's party
01:37 rejected the accusations.
01:39 2021's military coup has led to bloody conflict, resulting in thousands jailed or killed. A
01:47 spokesperson for a shadow national unity government, formed by Suu Kyi's supporters and other opponents
01:52 of the junta, said the partial pardons showed the military was feeling the pressure, as
01:57 not only Western countries but neighbours in Southeast Asia call for a resolution of
02:02 Myanmar's crisis.
02:04 On Monday, the junta postponed an election promised by August this year and extended
02:09 a state of emergency for another six months, which critics say would prolong the crisis.
02:14 [BLANK_AUDIO]