Australian Sean Turnell sentenced to three years prison in secret Myanmar trial

The wife of Sean Turnell, an economist at Sydney’s Macquarie University, has spoken out after he was jailed for three years in Myanmar.

Sean Turnell, adviser to Myanmar's deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, getting vaccinated against the Covid-19 while in prison. Picture: AF{

Australian economist Sean Turnell was sentenced to three years in prison in a secret trial where he was convicted alongside Myanmar’s former leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.

Mr Turnell, from Sydney’s Macquarie University, was arrested during a military coup in February 2021, when he was advising the government of Ms Suu Kyi.

“It’s heartbreaking for me, our daughter, Sean’s 85-year-old father and the rest of our family,” Mr Turnell’s wife Ha Vu, said in a statement.

“My husband has already been in a Myanmar prison for almost two-thirds of his sentence. Please consider the contributions that he has made to Myanmar, and deport him now,” she added.

Mr Turnell was facing a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison on the charges under Myanmar’s Official Secrets Act, a source told AFP, adding that Suu Kyi would appeal the verdict.

Australian economist Sean Turnell with Aung San Suu Kyi. Picture: Supplied

Mr Turnell was also convicted for three years under the country’s immigration act, the source said, adding that he will serve the second conviction concurrently, and that his sentence would be eligible for a time already served deduction.

The Australian was in the middle of a phone interview with the BBC when he was detained after the 2021 coup.

“I’ve just been detained at the moment, and perhaps charged with something, I don’t know what that would be, could be anything at all of course,” Turnell told the broadcaster at the time.

In August, he pleaded not guilty to breaching the act during his trial in a secret junta court — closed to the public — in the capital Naypyidaw.

Sean Turnell, adviser to Myanmar's deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, getting vaccinated against the Covid-19 while in prison. Picture: AF{

The exact details of Turnell’s alleged offence have not been made public, though state television has said he had access to “secret state financial information” and had tried to flee the country.

His sentence provoked a swift reaction from Canberra, with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong rejected the charges and urged his “immediate release”.

She said the economist was tried in a “closed court” and Australian officials had made “every effort to attend the verdict but were denied access”.

“We will continue to take every opportunity to advocate strongly for Professor Turnell until he has returned to his family in Australia,” she added in a statement.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power in 2021, ousting Suu Kyi’s elected government.

More than 2,200 people have been killed and 15,000 arrested in the military’s crackdown on dissent since the coup, according to a local monitoring group.

Dr Sean Turnell with his wife Ha Vu. Turnell was sentenced to three years prison by the junta in Myanmar. Picture: Supplied

– with AFP