Suu Kyi to challenge verdict as global anger grows

Aung San Suu Kyi's struggle to bring democracy to Burma earned her the Nobel

Hla Hla Htay
August 13, 2009

Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi is set to appeal against her conviction, lawyers said, as the ruling junta faced a global wave of anger over her extended house arrest.

Powerful ally China urged respect for Myanmar's sovereignty, but Southeast Asian nations issued a rare expression of disappointment at the military regime's decision on Tuesday to detain her for another 18 months.

US President Barack Obama joined the worldwide outrage but the UN Security Council was unable to adopt a sharply-worded statement condemning the verdict, which shuts the Nobel peace laureate out of elections in 2010, as envoys sought China's support.

In Yangon, Suu Kyi's lawyer Nyan Win said her legal team would appeal because they were "not satisfied" with the judgement, which stemmed from a stunt in which American man John Yettaw swam to her lakeside house in May.

A prison court sentenced her to three years of hard labour after finding her guilty of breaching the terms of her incarceration, but junta strongman Than Shwe commuted the punishment to a year and a half under house arrest.

The authorities allowed Suu Kyi's legal team to meet her at her home for one hour on Wednesday, Nyan Win said, adding: "We discussed the appeal and we haven't finished our discussion."

Police and security forces blocked off the road outside the 64-year-old opposition leader's house on Wednesday.

Lawyers for Yettaw, who was sentenced to seven years of hard labour and imprisonment, said they would also appeal and if it failed they would urge Than Shwe to deport him.

The 54-year-old former US military veteran, who is epileptic and diabetic, is "very calm" and "hopes for the best", his lawyer Khin Maung Oo said.

Suu Kyi has been confined for 14 of the past 20 years, ever since the military regime refused to recognise her National League for Democracy's landslide victory in the last elections held in 1990.

Myanmar's state media hit back at outside involvement, with the junta-controlled New Light of Myanmar newspaper deriding those who "interfere in the internal affairs of other countries".

On the streets of Yangon there was no sign of the unrest that the state media had warned against.

"People are glad that she (Suu Kyi) is at home... But things will be quiet again after one week as our people have to worry about their own lives. It is more important than politics," said security guard Zaw Naing.

But the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a member, added to the global chorus of dismay at the verdict, expressing "deep disappointment".

It also called for the immediate release of Suu Kyi but added that the 10-nation group -- which has been criticised in the past for failing to tackle the junta -- would "remain constructively engaged with Myanmar".

Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Wednesday offered his support to Suu Kyi, saying he was "deeply saddened" by her extended detention.

But China -- a key ally and major military supplier of the junta -- urged the international community to "fully respect Myanmar's judicial sovereignty", foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said.

The UN Security Council had been due to meet on Wednesday to adopt a sharply worded statement condemning the verdict, but the meeting was cancelled after some delegations, including China, insisted on sending the text to their capitals.

In Washington, Obama called for Suu Kyi's "immediate, unconditional release" and for the freeing of more than 2,000 other political prisoners held in Myanmar.

The US president said the "unjust" sentence against Suu Kyi would never be able to stamp out the people of Myanmar's desire for freedom, accusing the regime of "continued disregard" for UN Security Council statements.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said he was "deeply disappointed" by the Suu Kyi verdict, while UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said she deplored "the ongoing persecution of a democratically elected leader".

Source: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/suu-kyi-to-challenge-verdict-as-global-anger-grows-20090813-eivw.html