, Dec 7 () –
The Government of Japan has again asked the military junta of Burma to release the country’s former ‘de facto leader’, Aung San Suu Kyi, sentenced to two years in prison, as well as other politicians who have been detained. as a result of the coup that took place in February.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said that the government “has reiterated its call to release all detainees, including Suu Kyi, as well as to restore democratic institutions in the country.”
In a press conference, he also stated that Tokyo is “concerned” about the sentence against Suu Kyi and former Burmese president Win Myint, also convicted. The board announced on Monday that the sentence against Burmese politics – initially four years – would be reduced to two years at the request of the board’s leader, Min Aung Hlaing.
Likewise, the board has announced that she will serve her sentence under the house arrest to which she is currently subjected. The activist was initially sentenced to four years in prison for inciting riots and failing to comply with the measures applied to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, in the first verdict issued against the Nobel Peace Prize winner since she was arrested after the coup on 1 February.
Suu Kyi, considered the ‘de facto’ leader of the deposed government, has always denied the charges against her, as has her surroundings, who have denounced the poor prison conditions. Sentencing was originally scheduled for last week, but a last-minute postponement delayed it until Monday.
The NGO Association to Help Political Prisoners (AAPP) estimates that at least 1,303 people have died in the country as a result of military repression after the military coup. Of the 10,727 people arrested since the coup, 7,796 remain in detention.
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