Bangkok - Former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, 76, was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison on Wednesday in the first of several corruption cases against her. The ruling came from a court in the military-ruled Myanmar.

Suu Kyi, who was ousted by an army takeover last year, denied the allegation that she accepted gold and hundreds of thousands of dollars in a bribe from a top political colleague.

Suu’s prosecution is seen by many as an unjust attempt to discredit her and legitimize the military’s seizure of power while preventing her from returning to an active role in politics.

She is revered at home for her role in the country’s pro-democracy movement and viewed abroad as an icon of that struggle, epitomized by her years under house arrest.

She has already been charged for six years’ imprisonment in other cases and faces 10 more corruption charges. The maximum punishment under the Anti-Corruption Act is 15 years in prison and a fine for each charge. Convictions in the other cases could bring sentences of more than 100 years in prison in total.

Suu Kyi’s trial in the capital, Naypyitaw, was closed to the media, diplomats and spectators, and her lawyers were barred from speaking to the media. The evening newscast on state television confirmed the sentence.

In the case decided Wednesday, Suu is accused of receiving $600,000 and seven gold bars in 2017-18 from Phyo Min Thein, the former chief minister of Yangon, the country’s biggest city, and a senior member of her political party.

The nine other cases currently being tried under the Anti-Corruption Act include several related to the purchase and rental of a helicopter by one of her former Cabinet ministers.

Suu Kyi is also being tried on a charge of violating the Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years, and on a charge alleging election fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of three years.
-AP