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Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to seven more years in prison my the military junta for corruption charges on Friday. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | <a href="/News_Photos/lp/0610f92908ac050700f0194dca29ad69/" target="_blank">License Photo</a>
Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to seven more years in prison my the military junta for corruption charges on Friday. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Dec. 30 (UPI) — A military-controlled court in Myanmar on Friday sentenced ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to seven years in prison in a new round of charges against her that could now leave her behind bars for more than three decades.

Suu Kyi, 77, who has been in custody since a military coup on Feb. 1, 2021, had already been sentenced to more than 26 years in prison on charges ranging from accepting bribes, illegally possessing walkie-talkies and leasing government-owned land at discounted rates.

In the new cases, the court found Suu Kyi guilty on five charges of corruption pertaining to the misuse of state funds for the purchase and lease of a helicopter.

“This conviction and the continued imprisonment of state counselor Aung San Suu Kyi is part and parcel of the junta’s ongoing attack against the civilian population of Myanmar,” said Patrick Phongsathorn, senior advocacy specialist for the rights organization Fortify Rights.

This year, courts have banned the public and journalists from access to Suu Kyi’s trials. Her attorneys have been gagged legally, preventing them from commenting to the media.

The military rulers have jailed more than 16,600 people, many from Suu Kyi’s political party, since the coup. Some 13,000 remain in prison, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma).

“Since seizing power almost two years ago, Myanmar’s military has turned the courts and prison system into a human rights inferno in which journalists, activists, politicians, doctors, protesters and many others are jailed for nothing more than peacefully expressing dissent,” said Amnesty International‘s Regional Director Meg de Ronde said in a statement Friday.

“The fact that this verdict comes less than 10 days after a rare rebuke from the U.N. Security Council demanding an end to the violence and the release of arbitrarily detained prisoners shows that more pressure on the Myanmar military is needed and fast.”

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