According to their lawyer, a court in Myanmar sentenced two members of former leader Aung San Suu Kyi's political party to 90 and 75 years in prison, respectively, for corruption.
The penalties looked to be the worst ever meted out to any of the hundreds of members of Ms. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy jailed following the military coup on February 1.
According to lawyer Zaw Min Hlaing, Than Naing, the former Kayin state planning minister, was convicted of six corruption charges and sentenced to 90 years in jail, including labor.
Nan Khin Htwe Myint, 67, a former chief minister of Kayin state and a prominent member of Aung San Suu Kyi's political party, was sentenced to 15 years in jail on each of five counts.
Ms. Suu Kyi is also facing corruption and other criminal allegations, which her supporters claim were fabricated to undermine her and legitimize the military's seizure of power.
Any conviction would almost certainly bar her from competing in the elections planned by the military-installed government for 2023.
Nan Khin Htwe Myin, a member of the party's Central Executive Committee, is a long-standing pro-democracy activist detained for the first time in 1974 during a student protest against a prior military regime.
She was arrested at least twice more between 2012 and 2015 when she was elected to the state legislature and named state minister. She is well-known for being a close associate of Aung San Suu Kyi.
On February 2, she was arrested by troops and placed under house arrest, where she broadcasted a live-streamed broadcast appealing for civil disobedience against the army takeover. On February 8, she was arrested.
Myanmar has been wracked by bloodshed and social upheaval since the military seized power in 2011. Protesters opposed to the takeover – who have been subjected to beatings, shootings, and arrests – have increasingly resorted to armed resistance.
Insurgents are active in several regions throughout the country.
Nan Khin Htwe Myin was charged with corruption related to the suspected theft of public funds for medical care following her injury in a car accident in 2017.
In four other cases, she and co-defendant Than Naing were charged with financial mismanagement and wrongdoing.
Both had already been convicted of instigating disturbance following the army takeover and sentenced to two years in prison.
Her lawyer said that Nang Khin Htwe Myint is in good health in prison in Hpa-an, Kayin state's capital, but has lost some weight.
"The chief minister sent a message to the people to always be united, to work cooperatively to bring about a democratic federal union, and to work cooperatively to overcome the military's evils," the lawyer explained.
