Brown attacks Suu Kyi verdict

Tuesday, 11 August 2009 10:16 AM

By politics.co.uk staff

The prime minister has attacked the 18 months of house arrest imposed on Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Nobel laureate was convicted of violating state security laws after an American man swam to her home and stayed for two days.

Mr Brown described the trial as "a sham" and said he was "saddened and angry" at the verdict.

The conviction was "a purely political sentence," he added.

American John Yettaw, also on trial, was jailed for seven years, four of which constituted hard labour.

Ms Suu Kyi's sentence was originally three years hard labour, but the home minister then commuted the sentence to 18 months house arrest under a special order from Than Shwe, the country's military ruler.

Amnesty International's Secretary General Irene Khan described the verdict as "shameful".

"Her arrest and trial and now this guilty verdict are nothing more than legal and political theatre," she said.

"The Burmese authorities will hope that a sentence that is shorter than the maximum will be seen by the international community as an act of leniency. But it is not, and must not be seen as such."

Fremnch president Nicolas Sarkozy also condemned the ruling, and suggested further European sanctions could be on the way.

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