Myanmar’s jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced Tuesday to 18 more months of detention. American John William Yettaw, 53, was sentenced to seven years in prison with hard labor.
President Obama, voicing concern with the ruling, said Burma’s “unjust decision reminds us of the thousands of other political prisoners in Burma who, like Aung San Suu Kyi, have been denied their liberty because of their pursuit of a government that respects the will, rights and aspirations of all Burmese citizens.”
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in an official statement, called her trial a “sham.” “I am both saddened and angry at the verdict today, 11 August, following the sham trial of Aung San Suu Kyi. The news – that she has been found guilty and sentenced to three years hard labour but that this has been “mitigated” to a suspended sentence of 1.5 years under house arrest – is further proof that the military regime in Burma is determined to act with total disregard for accepted standards of the rule of law and in defiance of international opinion.”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi weighed in as well. “The politically-motivated trial and conviction of Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is another step backward for the future of the Burmese people. The international community must send a clear message that elections in Burma, planned for 2010, will not be open or credible without the participation of imprisoned and detained pro-democracy leaders. Let there be no doubt that the United States will continue to support Aung San Suu Kyi as she inspires the world in her fight for the freedom of the Burmese people.”