Bangkok: Myanmar's junta chief reduced the prison sentence of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to two years on Monday, after she was jailed for four years for incitement against the military and breaching Covid rules. Suu Kyi, 76, has been detained since the generals staged a coup and ousted her government on February 1, ending the Southeast Asian country's brief period of democracy.
She has since been hit with a series of charges, including violating the official secrets act, illegally importing walkie talkies and electoral fraud, and faces decades in prison.
On Monday, Suu Kyi was sentenced to two years for incitement against the military and another two years for breaching a natural disaster law relating to Covid, junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun told AFP.
Former president Win Myint was also initially jailed for four years on the same charges, which the US later blasted as an "affront" to justice.Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing later "pardoned" the sentences of both to "two years imprisonment", according to a statement read out on state TV.
They would serve their sentences under the house arrest they have been kept under in the capital of Naypyidaw, the statement said, without giving further details.
On Monday evening, residents in parts of commercial capital Yangon banged pots and pans — a practice traditionally associated with driving out evil spirits but which has been used since February to show dissent against the military.