Myanmar: who is Australian economist Sean Turnell and why has he been sentenced for 3 years

A Myanmar court on Thursday convicted Aung San Suu Kyi, again, and sentenced Australian economist Sean Turnell to three years in prison for breaking secrecy laws.

Suu Kyi received a three-year sentence after being tried and convicted with Turnell under the secrets law, according to an official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to release information about the case.

Three members of her Cabinet were also found guilty, each receiving sentences of three years.

Turnell, an associate professor in economics at Sydney’s Macquarie University, had served as an adviser to Suu Kyi, who was detained in the capital Naypyitaw when her elected government was ousted by the army on February 1, 2021.

He had been in detention for almost 20 months. He was arrested five days after the military takeover by security forces at a hotel in Yangon, the country’s biggest city, while waiting for a car to take him to the city’s international airport.

He was charged along with Suu Kyi and the three former Cabinet ministers on the basis of documents seized from him. The exact details of their offence have not been made public, though state television said last year that Turnell had access to “secret state financial information” and had tried to flee the country.

Turnell and Suu Kyi denied the allegations when they testified in their defence at the trial in August.

Turnell was also charged with violating immigration law, but it was not immediately clear what sentence he received for that.

Myanmar’s colonial-era official secrets act criminalises the possession, collection, recording, publishing, or sharing of state information that is “directly or indirectly, useful to an enemy.” The charge carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

All sessions of the trial, held in a purpose-built courtroom in Naypyitaw’s main prison, were closed to the media and the public. The defence lawyers were barred by a gag order from revealing details of the proceedings.

The same restrictions have applied to all of Suu Kyi’s trials.

The case that concluded Thursday was one of several faced by Suu Kyi and was widely seen as an effort to discredit her to prevent her return to politics.

She had already been sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment after being convicted of illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies, violating coronavirus restrictions, sedition, election fraud and five corruption charges. The cases are widely seen as being concocted to keep the 77-year-old Suu Kyi from returning to active politics.

Suu Kyi was still being tried on seven counts under the country’s anti-corruption law, with each count punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a fine.

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