Is Myanmar Sliding Towards a Civil War?

On December 6, Aung San Suu Kyi was handed down a prison sentence by a court loyal to Myanmar's military junta. Until February of this year, Suu Kyi was the de-facto civilian leader of Myanmar. Her party, the National League for Democracy, had just won re-election in a landslide victory -- the results of which were rejected by the military, which mounted a coup.  The military junta were not swayed massive protests throughout the country and began violently suppressing dissent. Now, violence seems to be escalating, prompting the UN's top human rights official to warn that Myanmar may be sliding into a civil war. My guest today, Matthew Smith, is the co-founder and CEO of Fortify Rights, a human rights organization long active in Myanmar. We kick off discussing the circumstances of Aung San Suu Kyi's criminal conviction before having a broader conversation about the escalating crisis in Myanmar.  Our conversation was recorded live on Twitter using the new Twitter Spaces platform. Twitter is partnering with the podcast to produce episodes recorded as Twitter Spaces. If you would like to participate in one of these live recordings, the best thing to do is follow me on Twitter @MarkLGoldberg.