Aung San Suu Kyi pardoned in 5 cases: A timeline of events since her conviction

The prison sentence of former president Win Myint was also reduced as part of the amnesty, according to the Associated Press.

Though Aung San Suu Kyi has been pardoned in some cases, she will not be free from house arrest. The civilian leader and head of the National League for Democracy (NLD) was detained after the 2021 military coup in Myanmar. She has been indicted in several cases, ranging from corruption to incitement and election fraud. Aung San Suu Kyi has refuted all charges.

On 1 February 1, 2021, Aung San Suu Kyi and her colleagues in the NLD were detained by the junta just before the new session of Parliament was going to convene. The army claims it seized power due to widespread electoral fraud in the November 2020 election. Suu Kyi was charged with electoral fraud.

The coup sparked demonstrations in various parts of Myanmar and clashes between civilians and military officials. A local monitoring group, quoted by Al-Jazeera, has claimed that over 3,800 people have been killed in the government’s crackdown.

Take a look at the timeline of events since Aung San Suu Kyi’s conviction:

A special court, in a closed-door hearing, put out the first rulings against Aung San Suu Kyi, and declared her guilty of incitement and breaching COVID-19 restrictions. She was sentenced to four years in prison, with more cases yet to be settled.

January 10, 2022: Aung San Suu Kyi was convicted of violating coronavirus rules and illegally importing and keeping portable two-way radios.

April 27, 2022: A junta court found the NLD chief guilty of taking a bribe amounting to $6,00,000 (Rs 4,93,68,900) in the form of gold bars and cash from the former head of Yangon, Myanmar's largest city and region.

October 12, 2022: A court convicts Aung San Suu Kyi on corruption charges.

December 30, 2022: Aung San Suu Kyi was convicted on five more charges, including flouting regulations in renting a helicopter for a minister. The political leader’s imprisonment term was extended to 33 years.

July 14, 2023: The Myanmar junta stated that Thailand’s outgoing Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai visited the country on July 9 and met Aung San Suu Kyi, adding that the NLD chief was in “good health”.

July 25, 2023: Aung San Suu Kyi moved to house arrest from prison.

July 31, 2023: The military junta announced that it will extend the state of emergency in the country, leading to the delay of elections.

Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of independence hero General Aung San. She emerged as a leader of Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement. In her younger days, Suu Kyi studied political science at Delhi’s Lady Shri Ram College. Later, she moved to St. Hugh's College at Oxford for her studies. After her return to Myanmar, she co-founded a political party- the National League for Democracy (NLD). In 1989, she was put under house arrest.

One of the world’s leading icons for democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.

The NLD leader was released from detention in 2010 and her party swept away the 2015 elections. While the rules barred Suu Kyi from becoming president, a special post of state counsellor was created for her. But, Aung San Suu Kyi was later criticised for defending Myanmar against allegations of genocide after widespread claims that the country’s military had committed crimes against the Rohingya community. Nearly a million Rohingyas have fled to neighbouring countries to escape the situation in Myanmar.

In the November 2020 election, Suu Kyi's party attained a majority. The new parliament was set to convene when the military coup ousted Suu Kyi’s party from power.