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Aung San Suu Kyi and the Australian academic Sean Turnell who served as her advisor have been sentenced to three years in prison after a closed trial in Myanmar, according to reports.
Turnell, an economist at Sydney’s Macquarie University, was first detained last year on 6 February, a few days after the military ousted Myanmar’s elected government, plunging the country into chaos.
Turnell was later charged with violating Myanmar’s official secrets act, and over the past year has appeared alongside co-defendants including the ousted leader and three of her former cabinet members.
A source, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, told Reuters that Turnell and the ousted leader had been given “three years each, no hard labour”. Both had pleaded not guilty.
There is very limited information about the court proceedings involving political prisoners in Myanmar, where more than 15,600 people have been arrested since last year’s coup. Hearings are not accessible to journalists and defence lawyers have been gagged from talking to media.
Aung San Suu Kyi had already been sentenced to 20 years in prison over separate cases, and is still facing trials.
The military had accused Turnell of possessing confidential documents when he was detained last year, according to the Irrawaddy news site. Turnell has reportedly denied the charge, and said the documents were not confidential, but were economic recommendations he had given in his capacity as adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi’s government.
The case against him has been widely condemned by rights groups.
Turnell has worked on economic and banking issues in Myanmar since the early 2000s, focusing on promoting reform and growth. He has served as special economic consultant to Aung San Suu Kyi and as a senior economic adviser to the minister of planning, finance and industry. Before this, he worked at the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Last month, as the UN special envoy to Myanmar, Noeleen Heyzer, met with junta chief Min Aung Hlaing to call for a de-escalation in violence in the country, she also conveyed a request from the Australian government appealing for Turnell’s release.
Junta-controlled media later published what it claimed to be an account of their meeting, in which Min Aung Hlaing said: “With regard to the case of Mr Sean Turnell, should the Australian Government take positive steps, we will not need to take stern actions. In the Mr Sean Turnell’s case, the evidence shows that severe penalties could be imposed.”
At least 15,683 people have been arrested since the military took power in a coup on 1 February 2021, and 12,540 remain in detention, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which tracks arrests and killings.
Other foreign nationals being held include Vicky Bowman Britain’s former ambassador to Myanmar, and Toru Kubota, a Japanese film-maker.
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