According to a source speaking to AFP on Thursday, the Myanmar junta also handed another conviction to former leader Aung Suu Kyi and sentenced an Australian economist to three years in prison.
Both have been in custody ever since the military overthrew Suu Kyi’s administration, for which Sean Turnell served as an advisor, in a coup in February of last year.
According to the official secrets act, “Mr. Sean Turnell, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and three other people were sentenced to three years in prison apiece,” the source told AFP, adding that Suu Kyi would appeal her decision.
Canberra reacted quickly to Turnell’s punishment; the foreign ministry rejected it and urged for his “prompt release.”
Suu Kyi has previously been found guilty in a secret court of corruption and several other offenses. Following the nation’s immigration law, Turnell is currently involved in another case.
Turnell, 76, was in the middle of a phone conversation with the BBC when he was taken into custody during the coup in 2021.
He was accused of violating the colonial-era secrets legislation in August during his trial in the capital Naypyidaw’s junta court, which was closed to journalists.
The maximum sentence he might receive was 14 years in prison.
While state television said Turnell had access to “secret state financial information” and had attempted to leave the country, the specifics of his alleged offense remain unknown.
