Aung San Suu Kyi, the ousted Myanmar leader, has been sentenced to four years in prison, the first in a sequence of convictions that could send her behind bars for life.
Suu Kyi, 76, served as Myanmar's state counselor and de facto leader until she was ousted and arrested by the military 10 months ago and charged with over a dozen counts carrying cumulative maximum penalties of more than 100 years.
She was convicted of inciting dissent and violating pandemic guidelines under a natural calamity statute. Suu Kyi is charged with a total of 11 counts, all of which have been widely regarded as unjust. She has denied all claims, and her supporters said the charges are politically motivated.
She has been held under house arrest since a military coup deposed her elected civilian administration in February. It is unknown when or if she will be sent to prison.
Myanmar's military dictatorship has attempted to keep information about the trials under wraps.
Co-defendant Win Myint, a former president and ally of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), was also sentenced to four years in prison on Monday on the same accusations.
Amnesty International described the charges as "bogus," adding that they were the "latest latest demonstration of the military's aim to destroy any opposition and suffocate freedoms in Myanmar."
Suu Kyi's lawyers, who previously functioned as the sole source of information about the court processes, have also been served with gag orders prohibiting them from disclosing anything.
The judgment came a day after security forces cracked down on a protest in the country's largest city, Yangon, provoking censure from the United Nations and the U.S.
Suu Kyi is struggling, according to a representative for the newly established National Unity Government, a group comprised of pro-democracy stalwarts and opponents of the coup.
"She is not well... military generals are preparing to sentence her to 104 years in prison. They wish for her to perish in prison," the representative said.
Suu Kyi is one of almost 10,600 individuals jailed by the junta since February, and at least 1,303 others killed in protests, the monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said.
Between 1989 and 2010, Suu Kyi spent nearly 15 years in military captivity and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work to bring democracy to Myanmar.
The violence in Myanmar has been denounced by the international community, and Western countries have called for Suu Kyi's immediate release.
