INTERNATIONAL: A court in Myanmar has sentenced deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi to four years in prison on Monday on charges of incitement and breaking Covid-19 rules, in the first verdict against the Nobel Peace Prize winner since the military seized power in February.

Suu Kyi, 76, was Myanmar's state counselor and de facto leader of the country before she was ousted and detained by the military 10 months ago and hit with almost a dozen charges that add up to combined maximum sentences of more than 100 years. She has been detained since the coup along with most senior leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party. Others are abroad or in hiding. The military has not given details of where Suu Kyi has been detained and it was not immediately clear if the sentencing would mean any immediate change in her circumstances.

They include several charges of corruption -- which each carry a maximum prison sentence of 15 years -- violating Covid-19 pandemic restrictions during the 2020 election campaign, incitement, illegally importing and possessing walkie talkies, and breaking the colonial-era Official Secrets Act -- which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. She has rejected all allegations and her supporters say the charges against her are political.

President Win Myint was also sentenced to four years in prison, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, has said, as the court has delivered its first verdicts against civilian leaders detained since February military coup. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the coup against Suu Kyi's democratically elected government has sparked widespread protests and raised international concern about the halt to tentative political reforms following decades of military rule.

The trial in the capital, Naypyitaw, has been closed to the media and the junta's public information outlets have not mentioned the proceedings. Suu Kyi's lawyers have been barred from communicating with the media and public.