Aung San Suu Kyi: Lawbreaker Or Hero?

Aung San Suu Kyi, the former leader of Myanmar, has been charged with breaking a colonial-era official secrets law, the most serious charge filed against her so far. This comes as the UN security council warns that Myanmar is at risk of civil war and an imminent bloodbath if military rulers continue to violently repress the protest movement that has emerged since the coup.

Suu Kyi has been detained by the Myanmar junta several times since 1989, spending nearly 15 years under house arrest. She has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to bring democracy to Myanmar and was released from house arrest in 2010.

Suu Kyi was deposed and detained by the military junta in February 2021. She has been charged with several minor offences since, including illegally importing six handheld radios and breaching coronavirus protocols.

Suu Kyi's chief lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, said she was charged a week ago in a Yangon court under the official secrets law, which carries a prison sentence of up to 14 years.

Suu Kyi, along with three of her deposed cabinet ministers and a detained Australian economist, Sean Turnell, are among several people charged with breaking the law.

Aung San Suu Kyi's detention by the Myanmar junta

Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of Myanmar's independence hero, General Aung San, has been a prominent figure in Myanmar's politics since the 1988 Uprising. She is the leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which won the 1990 general election with 81% of the seats in Parliament. However, the military junta nullified the results and placed Suu Kyi under house arrest for nearly 15 years between 1989 and 2010. During this time, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and became an international symbol of peaceful resistance.

In 2015, the NLD won a landslide victory in Myanmar's first openly contested election in 25 years, and Suu Kyi became the country's de facto leader as State Counsellor. However, her reputation suffered internationally due to her response to the Rohingya crisis, where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled to neighbouring Bangladesh due to an army crackdown.

In 2021, the military seized power in a coup, detaining Suu Kyi and other political leaders. She has since been charged with various offences, including violating the official secrets law, which carries a sentence of up to 14 years in prison. Despite the serious charges and international condemnation, Suu Kyi remains popular among Myanmar's Buddhist majority, with a 2020 survey showing that 79% of people trusted her.

Her defence of the Myanmar military at the International Court of Justice

In 2019, Aung San Suu Kyi appeared at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to defend Myanmar's military against allegations of genocide against the Rohingya. This was not the first time she had defended the Tatmadaw's (Myanmar's military) controversial actions against the Rohingya at an international forum.

Suu Kyi's decision to represent Myanmar at the ICJ was interpreted by her Burmese associates as a move to defend the country's honour and dignity in their dispute with The Gambia. They did not believe she went to The Hague to defend the military. However, this interpretation was contrary to most Western views, which criticised her for defending the military.

By defending the military, Suu Kyi stood to gain significant political leverage over them, especially in light of the ongoing constitutional amendment process, which the military saw as an existential threat. Defending the military also helped Suu Kyi's image domestically, enabling her to emerge as a unifying figure and expand her voter base before the 2020 elections.

However, the ICJ case also led to intensified scrutiny of the atrocities committed by the security forces in Rakhine, which could further internationalise the issue.

Her failure to address Myanmar's economic and ethnic problems

Aung San Suu Kyi's failure to address Myanmar's economic and ethnic problems has been a significant source of criticism. As the de facto leader of Myanmar and the Chairperson of the National League for Democracy (NLD), she has faced scrutiny for her handling of the country's economic and ethnic issues.

One of the main criticisms of Aung San Suu Kyi is her failure to address the country's ethnic conflicts and promote reconciliation. Myanmar has a long history of ethnic tensions and armed conflicts between the government military and various ethnic armed groups. Despite making ending these conflicts a cornerstone of her administration, Aung San Suu Kyi's efforts have been stymied by ongoing fighting and the Rohingya crisis in Rakhine State. She has been accused of failing to pay attention to the demands of ethnic groups for real autonomy and has been criticised for her cooperation with the military, even in the face of human rights abuses.

In addition to the ethnic problems, Aung San Suu Kyi has also been criticised for her economic policies. There are claims that she has favoured a neoliberal agenda, showing support for big businessmen and the wealthy while failing to address land issues and continuing the peace process with much fanfare but little substance. This has led to accusations that she has squandered opportunities for real change in the country.

Furthermore, Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the NLD, has been accused of breaking promises made to ethnic parties before the 2015 elections. Specifically, they have failed to amend parts of the constitution, such as Article 261, which grants the president the authority to appoint state and regional chief ministers. This has led to a breakdown in trust and a deterioration in relations between the NLD and ethnic groups.

Overall, Aung San Suu Kyi's failure to adequately address Myanmar's economic and ethnic problems has been a significant source of criticism and has contributed to the country's ongoing struggles with these issues.

Her prosecution of journalists

Aung San Suu Kyi's prosecution of journalists has drawn international criticism. In December 2017, two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, were arrested while investigating the Inn Din massacre of Rohingyas. Suu Kyi publicly commented in June 2018 that the journalists "weren't arrested for covering the Rakhine issue", but because they had broken Myanmar's Official Secrets Act. As the journalists were then on trial for violating the Official Secrets Act, Aung San Suu Kyi's presumption of their guilt was criticised by rights groups for potentially influencing the verdict.

In September 2018, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report that since Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the NLD, came to power, the arrests and criminal prosecutions of journalists in Myanmar by the government and military, under laws which are too vague and broad, have "made it impossible for journalists to do their job without fear or favour."

Her arrest and trial after the 2021 coup

Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested and imprisoned following the 2021 coup d'état in Myanmar, which returned the Tatmadaw to power. She was charged with illegally importing walkie-talkies and breaking coronavirus rules, among other charges.

On 1 February 2021, Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested and deposed by the Myanmar military, along with other leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party. A 1 February court order authorised her detainment for 15 days, stating that soldiers searching her Naypyidaw villa had uncovered imported communications equipment lacking proper paperwork. Aung San Suu Kyi was transferred to house arrest on the same evening, and on 3 February was formally charged with illegally importing ten or more walkie-talkies.

Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to four years in prison on 6 December 2021, and to an additional four years on 10 January 2022. On 12 October 2022, she was convicted of two further charges of corruption and was sentenced to two terms of three years' imprisonment to be served concurrently. On 30 December 2022, her trials ended with another conviction and an additional sentence of seven years' imprisonment for corruption.

Aung San Suu Kyi's final sentence was of 33 years in prison, later reduced to 27 years. The United Nations, most European countries, and the United States condemned the arrests, trials, and sentences as politically motivated.

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