Post-coup Myanmar: Junta jails Suu Kyi for 6 more years for corruption

Myanmar's junta court yesterday sentenced ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to another six years in prison for corruption, a source with knowledge of the case said, taking the Nobel laureate's total jail time to 26 years.

Suu Kyi "was sentenced to three years imprisonment each for two corruption cases" in which she had been accused of taking bribes from a businessman, the source said, adding that the terms would be served concurrently.

Detained since the putsch last year, Suu Kyi has already been convicted of corruption and a clutch of other charges by a closed junta court.

In the latest case, the Nobel laureate -- who has been in military custody since the night of the coup -- was accused of taking bribes of $550,000 from businessman Maung Weik.

Suu Kyi appeared in good health and would appeal, the source added.

Journalists have been barred from attending the court hearings and Suu Kyi's lawyers have been banned from speaking to the media.

Another junta court yesterday jailed a Japanese journalist arrested while filming an anti-coup protest for three more years for violating immigration law, a diplomatic source told AFP.

Toru Kubota, 26, who was detained in July and jailed for seven years last week, was sentenced to an additional "three years imprisonment", a diplomatic source at Japan's embassy said, citing the journalist's lawyer.

Myanmar's junta has clamped down on press freedoms, arresting reporters and photographers, as well as revoking broadcasting licences during its crackdown on dissent since seizing power last year.

Kubota, who was detained near an anti-government rally in commercial hub Yangon along with two Myanmar citizens, appeared in good health at the hearing yesterday, the source said, citing his lawyer.