Sean Turnell is jailed for THREE years alongside the Myanmar’s former leader Aung San Suu Kyi

A Myanmar court has sentenced Australian economist Sean Turnell and the country’s former leader Aung San Suu Kyi to three years in prison for violating Myanmar’s official secrets law, a legal official said.

The pair were tried and convicted under the Secrets Act, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he is not authorized to release information about the case.

Three members of Suu Kyi’s former cabinet were also found guilty, each with sentences of three years.

Turnell, an associate professor of economics at Macquarie University in Sydney, was an adviser to Suu Kyi, who was detained in the capital Naypyitaw when her elected government was overthrown by the military on February 1, 2021.

He’s been incarcerated for almost 20 months. Five days after the military takeover, he was arrested by security forces at a hotel in Yangon, the country’s largest city, while waiting for a car to take him to the city’s international airport.

He had returned to Myanmar from Australia less than a month before he was detained to take up a new position as special adviser to Suu Kyi. As director of the Myanmar Development Institute, he had lived in Naypyitaw for several years.

The day after the takeover by the military, he posted on Twitter that he was: ‘Safe for now, but heartbroken for what all this means for the people of Myanmar. The bravest, nicest people I know. They deserve so much better.’

Turnell was an adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi (pictured), who was detained in the capital Naypyitaw when her elected government was overthrown by the military on February 1, 2021.

He was charged along with Suu Kyi and the three former ministers on the basis of documents seized from him. The exact details of their crime have not been made public, although state television last year said Turnell had access to “secret state financial information” and had attempted to flee the country.

Turnell and Suu Kyi denied the charges when they testified in defense at the August trial.

Turnell was also charged with violating immigration law, but it was not immediately clear what punishment he would receive.

Myanmar’s colonial-era official secrecy law criminalizes the possession, collection, recording, publishing or sharing of state information that is “directly or indirectly useful to an enemy.” The charge carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.

All hearings of the trial, which took place in a purpose-built courtroom at Naypyitaw’s main prison, were closed to the media and the public. Defense lawyers were barred from disclosing details of the proceedings.

The exact details of the couple’s violations have not been made public (photo, Sean Turnell when he worked as an economist at Sydney Macquarie University in 2005)

The same restrictions have applied to all Suu Kyi’s trials.

The case closed on Thursday is one of many Suu Kyi will face and is widely seen as an attempt to discredit her to prevent her from returning to politics.

She had already been sentenced to 20 years in prison after being convicted of illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies, violating coronavirus restrictions, sedition, electoral fraud and five corruption charges. The cases are widely regarded as fabricated to prevent 77-year-old Suu Kyi from returning to active politics.

Suu Kyi continues to be tried on seven counts under the country’s anti-corruption law, with each count carrying a prison term of up to 15 years and a fine.