A court in army-ruled Myanmar on Tuesday sentenced opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to 18 months in detention, a verdict that drew condemnation abroad and will keep her off the political stage ahead of next year's elections. The court handed down a three-year prison term for violation of an internal security law.
But that was immediately halved on the orders of the military government, which said the 64-year-old Nobel peace laureate could serve the time in her Yangon home. Myanmar's home minister, Major-General Muang Oo, told the court moments after the verdict it had taken into account that Suu Kyi was the daughter of Myanmar independence hero Aung San as well as "the need to preserve community peace and tranquillity" as the country prepares for multiparty elections next year. The verdict drew criticism from leaders around the world. Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown called it "monstrous". French President Nicolas Sarkozy said it was "brutal and unjust".
-- Court sentences Suu Kyi to three years in prison
-- Junta commutes sentence by half, orders detention at home
-- EU says will step up sanctions
-- American intruder Yettaw gets seven years' hard labour
The 27-country European Union is preparing sanctions against Myanmar that include restricting trade with state-owned firms and barring top junta officials from entering the bloc, Sweden said. Sarkozy said the measures "should particularly target the resources it profits directly from - wood and ruby mining".
UN diplomats said it was likely the Security Council would meet later on Tuesday to discuss the verdict passed for violation of an internal security law. "She should not have been tried, and she should not have been convicted," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said. Myanmar authorities should begin an immediate dialogue with the opposition, Clinton told reporters on her trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo. "Otherwise the elections they have scheduled will have absolutely no legitimacy."
The charges stemmed from a mysterious incident in which an American, John Yettaw, swam to her lakeside home in May and stayed there uninvited for two days. That breached the terms of her house arrest and broke a security law protecting the state from "subversive elements".
Yettaw, taken to hospital last week after suffering seizures, was sentenced to seven years' hard labour in a parallel trial on three charges, including immigration offences and "swimming in a non-swimming area". His lawyer said the American suffered from epilepsy, diabetes and heart trouble. Yettaw, a Mormon, told the court God had sent him to warn Suu Kyi she would be assassinated by "terrorists".
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the credibility of elections next year would remain in doubt, unless the junta freed Suu Kyi and other political prisoners. The reduced sentence for Suu Kyi, who has spent 14 of the past 20 years in detention, may have been an attempt to appease Myanmar's friends and neighbours - China, India and Thailand, in particular - whose trade has propped up a state crippled by international sanctions.
Reflecting that assessment, Singapore's foreign ministry said in a statement it was "disappointed" by the guilty verdict. India urged Myanmar to speed political reforms, saying it hoped the issue of release of political prisoners would be addressed as part of that process. The Indian Foreign Ministry, in a brief statement, said it had seen reports of Suu Kyi's sentencing. "India has emphasised to the Government of Myanmar the need to expedite their political reform and national reconciliation process, and has noted the various steps taken so far," it said.
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