Three more years in prison for Aung San Suu Kyi

Today's headlines: Popular Hindu leader of religious sect in Karnataka arrested for alleged rape; Marcos promises to raise the number of Filipino nurses allowed to go abroad; two Tibetan monks given three years in prison for possessing photos of the Dalai Lama; more than 200 church buildings destroyed in Ukraine conflict.

MYANMAR

Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to a further three years in prison and hard labour for electoral fraud after winning the November 2020 election. This was declared today by a court led by the coup junta that deposed the government of the former Nobel laureate last year. Suu Kyi had already been sentenced to 17 years in prison during a closed trial.

MALAYSIA

Rosmah Mansor, wife of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, was found guilty of corruption and sentenced by the Kuala Lumpur High Court to 10 years in prison and to pay a 6 million fine. Defence lawyers have stated that they will appeal. Last week, her husband and former premier had been sentenced to 12 years in prison for fraud related to the management of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd fund.

PHILIPPINES

President Marcos promised to raise the cap on the annual number of Filipino nurses allowed to work abroad, currently set at 7,500. During the pandemic there had been a huge demand for nurses in other countries, but the health crisis at home had made it necessary to put a limit on emigration. Health experts in the Philippines receive very low salaries compared to other states in the region.

INDIA

Police in the southern state of Karnataka arrested an influential Hindu leader on charges of raping two underage schoolgirls. Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru belongs to the Lingayat religious sect - which worships Shiva as the only deity - and allegedly assaulted the two girls in his seminary. 17% of the population of Karnataka, including many politicians, belong to the religious sect.

TIBET

Two Tibetan monks were sentenced by the Chinese authorities to three years in prison for possessing photos of the Dalai Lama on their mobile phones. Both were part of the 250 monks living in Barong Monastery in Sershul (Shiqu) County of the Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and had been in custody for the past two years after being arrested in 2020.

RUSSIA

In six months of war, 205 church buildings in 14 regions of Ukraine, including churches, mosques, synagogues and administrative and educational buildings of religious communities, were destroyed or severely damaged, according to the National Service for Religion and Ethnic Policy in Kyiv. Most belong to the Autocephalous Orthodox Church (Pzu).

KYRGYZSTAN

Kyrgyzstan has simplified procedures for accepting IT specialists from Russia and other countries, the Ministry of Economy and Trade reported, applying to them the status of 'Digital Nomad' to operate without a visa, registration and work permit, based on 'favourable geopolitical and natural conditions'.

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