Nobel body slams 'politically motivated' Suu Kyi convictions

The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the Nobel Peace Prize, denounced three new convictions handed down Monday against ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

"The Nobel Committee is deeply concerned about her situation," the chairwoman of the Nobel committee Berit Reiss-Andersen told AFP in an email

"The latest ruling against Aung San Suu Kyi is a politically motivated ruling," she added.

Under house arrest since a February 1 military coup, the 76-year-old former leader was sentenced to four years in prison in the latest in a slew of charges that risk sending her to prison for decades.

She was found guilty of two charges related to illegally importing and owning walkie-talkies and one of breaking coronavirus rules, a source with knowledge of the case told AFP.

Suu Kyi was sentenced in December to a four-year sentence for violating Covid restrictions, which the ruling junta later shortened to two years.

In December, the Nobel Committee, which rarely comments on current events, had already expressed concern about Suu Kyi and condemned her previous conviction as "not very credible".