Myanmar has jailed former leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Australian economist Sean Turnell for three years each for breaching its official secrets act, a legal official told AP on condition of anonymity.
Three members of Ms Suu Kyi's Cabinet were also found guilty on Thursday, each receiving sentences of three years.
Mr Turnell, 58, an associate professor in economics at Sydney’s Macquarie University, had served as an adviser to Ms Suu Kyi. She was detained in the capital Naypyitaw when her elected government was ousted by the army in February 2021.
Mr Turnell has been in detention for almost 20 months. It was not immediately known if that time would be deducted from his sentence.
Family and friends expressed hope he would soon be freed and deported, as has occurred with other foreigners in Myanmar convicted of political offences.
“It’s heartbreaking for me, our daughter, Sean’s 85-year-old father, and the rest of our family to hear that my husband, Professor Sean Turnell, was convicted and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment," his wife Ha Vu, also an economist, said on her Facebook page.
”Sean has been one of Myanmar’s greatest supporters for over 20 years and has worked tirelessly to strengthen Myanmar’s economy.
“My husband has already been in a Myanmar prison for almost 2/3 of his sentence. Please consider the contributions that he has made to Myanmar, and deport him now.”
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s office rejected the court’s ruling and called for Mr Turnell’s immediate release. Decrying that he had been “unjustly detained,” her office said Australian diplomats had been denied access to the court hearing for the verdict.
“We will continue to take every opportunity to advocate strongly for Professor Turnell until he has returned to his family in Australia,” it said. “Professor Turnell is internationally respected for his work to support the people of Myanmar and their economic development.”
Tim Harcourt, a professor at the University of Technology Sydney and long-time friend, praised Mr Turnell.
“He’s a great economist, nice bloke and a great human being," he said. "His main cause in life is to reduce poverty around the world and he’d developed particular expertise in Myanmar.
”Hopefully common sense and justice can prevail and Sean can return to his wife and family in Australia soon.”
Mr Turnell was arrested five days after the military takeover by security forces at a hotel in Yangon, the country’s biggest city.
He had arrived back in Myanmar from Australia less than a month before that to take up a new position as a special consultant to Suu Kyi. As director of the Myanmar Development Institute, he had already lived in Naypyitaw for several years.
'They deserve better'
The day after the military’s takeover, he posted on Twitter: “Safe for now but heartbroken for what all this means for the people of Myanmar. The bravest, kindest people I know. They deserve so much better.”
The five co-defendants were charged on the basis of documents seized from Mr Turnell. The exact details of their offence have not been made public, though state television said last year that Mr Turnell had access to “secret state financial information” and had tried to flee the country.
Mr Turnell and Ms Suu Kyi denied the allegations when they testified in their defence at the trial in August. Mr Turnell was also charged with breaching immigration law, but it was not immediately known what sentence he received for that.
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Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
1st Test July 26-30 in Galle
2nd Test August 3-7 in Colombo
3rd Test August 12-16 in Pallekele
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- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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Infobox
Western Region Asia Cup Qualifier, Al Amerat, Oman
The two finalists advance to the next stage of qualifying, in Malaysia in August
Results
UAE beat Iran by 10 wickets
Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by eight wickets
Oman beat Bahrain by nine wickets
Qatar beat Maldives by 106 runs
Monday fixtures
UAE v Kuwait, Iran v Saudi Arabia, Oman v Qatar, Maldives v Bahrain
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Ways to control drones
Countries have been coming up with ways to restrict and monitor the use of non-commercial drones to keep them from trespassing on controlled areas such as airports.
"Drones vary in size and some can be as big as a small city car - so imagine the impact of one hitting an airplane. It's a huge risk, especially when commercial airliners are not designed to make or take sudden evasive manoeuvres like drones can" says Saj Ahmed, chief analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research.
New measures have now been taken to monitor drone activity, Geo-fencing technology is one.
It's a method designed to prevent drones from drifting into banned areas. The technology uses GPS location signals to stop its machines flying close to airports and other restricted zones.
The European commission has recently announced a blueprint to make drone use in low-level airspace safe, secure and environmentally friendly. This process is called “U-Space” – it covers altitudes of up to 150 metres. It is also noteworthy that that UK Civil Aviation Authority recommends drones to be flown at no higher than 400ft. “U-Space” technology will be governed by a system similar to air traffic control management, which will be automated using tools like geo-fencing.
The UAE has drawn serious measures to ensure users register their devices under strict new laws. Authorities have urged that users must obtain approval in advance before flying the drones, non registered drone use in Dubai will result in a fine of up to twenty thousand dirhams under a new resolution approved by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai.
Mr Ahmad suggest that "Hefty fines running into hundreds of thousands of dollars need to compensate for the cost of airport disruption and flight diversions to lengthy jail spells, confiscation of travel rights and use of drones for a lengthy period" must be enforced in order to reduce airport intrusion.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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