Global condemnation of Burma over Suu Kyi verdict

The world is protesting the sentence to Aung San Suu Kyi for yet another 18 months of house arrest, but Asean now must face the fact that there is little chance for a credible general election in Burma next year.

Writer: AFP

Published: 12/08/2009 at 03:10 AM

US President Barack Obama led global calls Tuesday for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi, and the European Union pledged new sanctions after her house arrest was extended.

After Burmese authorities ordered the democracy icon to remain under house arrest for a further 18 months, US President Barack Obama called for her "immediate, unconditional release" and denounced the junta's "unjust decision."

Pointing to the "thousands" of other political prisoners held in the country, Obama also expressed concern at the seven-year jail sentence handed to US citizen John Yettaw who swam uninvited to Suu Kyi's lakeside home in Yangon in May, in a bizarre incident that landed her in court.

The United Nations Security Council was to hold emergency consultations at 3:00 pm (1900 GMT) to take up the Burmese court's verdict, with UN chief Ban Ki-moon saying he was "deeply disappointed" by the move.

Ban called on Burma's ruling generals "to immediately and unconditionally release" the democracy activist.

Incensed by the verdict, 14 Nobel peace prize winners wrote an open letter to the Council denouncing the extended house arrest of their fellow laureate.

The sentence, which effectively ruled out any possibility of the 64-year-old standing in polls next year, provoked immediate calls for tougher sanctions against the military rulers who prevented Suu Kyi from taking power after her party won elections in 1990.

"The EU will respond with additional targeted measures against those responsible for the verdict," the European Union's Swedish presidency said in a statement on behalf of the 27-nation bloc.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Suu Kyi's continued detention was "unjustified and unacceptable on all accounts."

An EU source said a "written procedure" had been launched to beef up the sanctions which could come into force on Friday if there was no opposition from the bloc's members.

Former Czech President Vaclav Havel, who was imprisoned during the communist era, said the house arrest extension was "scandalous" and reflected the "political cynicism of one of the toughest totalitarian regimes in the world."

Gordon Brown, prime minister of Burma's former colonial power Britain, said he was "saddened and angry" at the verdict in the "sham trial."

"This is a purely political sentence designed to prevent her from taking part in the regime's planned elections next year," he charged.

Former US first lady Laura Bush, who took personal interest in US policy towards Burma during her husband George W. Bush's presidential tenure, said she was "deeply disappointed and saddened" by the "unjust verdict," which she said "will continue the unconscionable confinement of this brave leader."

Criticism was more muted closer to home, but Malaysia's foreign minister said Suu Kyi should be released immediately and called for an urgent meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) regional bloc.

"We were hoping that the junta will release her unconditionally and will hold an election to enable Suu Kyi and other political detainees to participate in that election," Anifah Aman told AFP.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo concurred, telling reporters: "They don't want her to be out before the election."

And a third Asean member, Indonesia, said it was "very disappointed" by the verdict, in a statement from a foreign ministry spokesman.

Burma's giant neighbour India refrained from denouncing the outcome, but foreign ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said New Delhi "has emphasised to the government of Burma the need to expedite the political reform and national reconciliation process."

Prakash called for a "broadbased" process that includes various ethnic groups and said that in this context, "the issue of the release of political prisoners will no doubt receive due attention."

But there was no reaction out of Burma's two other powerful regional neighbours, China and Thailand, which have, along with India, been accused in the past of helping to prop up the junta in Yangon.

Irene Khan, secretary general of London-based Amnesty International, described the verdict as "shameful" and "nothing more than legal and political theatre."

New York-based Human Rights Watch called the conviction a "reprehensible abuse of power" and urged regional allies to press for her release. Read more!