The Nobel Peace Prize laureate is Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Nobel Committee in Oslo, Norway on October 9, 2020. Stian Lysberg Solum NTB Scanpix via REUTERS Files
OSLO, December 6, Reuters Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's conviction by a Myanmar court is part of a process in which the country's military rulers are suppressing the opposition, the chair of Norway's prize awards committee said on Monday.
Berit Reiss-Andersen said in a statement to Reuters that the legal process against Aung San Suu Kyi appears to have low credibility.
Suu Kyi, now 76, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 while under house arrest in recognition of her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights. She was arrested this year after a military coup against her government.
A Myanmar court found the leader guilty of incitingment and breaching coronaviruses restrictions, and state TV said she will serve two years in detention at an unknown location.
Aung San Suu Kyi has dedicated her life to the fight for freedom and democracy in Myanmar and has faced this demanding situation for more than 30 years, Reiss-Andersen said.
The Nobel committee is worried about what her imprisonment will mean for the future of democracy in Myanmar. She said that it is concerned about the strains a long prison term could impose on Aung San Suu Kyi personally.