Myanmar’s Supreme Court has declined to hear special appeals from the country’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi against her convictions in six corruption cases where she was found guilty of abusing her authority and accepting bribes, a legal official said.

Her supporters and independent analysts say the charges, all of which have been contested by Suu Kyi and her lawyers, are bogus and an attempt to discredit her and legitimise the military’s seizure of power.

She initially received sentences totaling 33 years but Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the military government, granted her clemency in five cases and reduced her sentence by six years as part of a broader amnesty for more than 7,00 0 prisoners to mark a Buddhist religious holiday in August.

The legal official, who is familiar with Suu Kyi’s court cases, said the appeals that the court in the capital Naypyitaw declined to hear included four cases in which she was convicted for abusing her position to rent parcels of land and property in Naypyitaw and Yangon, the country’s biggest city.

The cases alleged that she had obtained the land at below-market prices for a charitable foundation that she chaired and had built a residence for herself on one plot with money donated for the foundation.

The legal official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to release information. Suu Kyi’s lawyers, who had been a source of information about the proceedings, were served with gag orders in late 2021.

Final stage

He said the other appeal cases were related to the two counts of corruption in which Suu Kyi was found guilty of receiving a total of $550,000 between 2018 and 2020 from Maung Weik, a tycoon who in 2008 had been convicted of drug trafficking.

Special appeals are usually the final stage of the judicial process in Myanmar. However, they can be re-examined by the Special Appeals Tribunal or the Plenary Tribunal if the chief justice sees them to be in the public interest.

Appeals of Suu Kyi’s convictions on the charges including election fraud, breaching the official secrets acts and six other corruption cases are still being processed, several legal officials have said.