Aung San Suu Kyi Gets 18 Months

First, the court at the Insein Prison in Yangon said Aung San Suu Kyi would get three years of hard labour and prison.

But then the Minister of the Interior came into the courtroom and announced that the junta chief, General Than Shwe, had commuted the sentence to one and a half years of house arrest, partly because she was the daughter of national hero General Aung San.

The elegantly-dressed, grim-faced Aung San Suu Kyi said “thank you for the verdict”.

Journalists, who had unexpectedly been allowed to attend the hearing, also reported that Myanmar’s opposition leader did not get up when the minister entered the room -- as opposed to others. They interpreted this as a sign of defiance even as she found out the next 18 months of her life would be spent under house arrest.

The leader of the National League for Democracy, and two female assistants who live with her, will be allowed to watch state television and read newspapers, the court said. Doctors will be permitted to visit them but all other visits will need to be passed by the government.

Very disappointing verdict

“It is very disappointing,” said Soe Aung, the spokesperson of the National Council of the Union of Burma based in Bangkok, Thailand. “It is against the will of the people of Burma. It is against the will of the international community. It will not bring national reconciliation in our country.”

Soe Aung added that it was time “that the international community act with concrete actions rather than with words.”

However, on Tuesday, the international community’s initial reaction was more words. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the verdict was “monstrous”. The European Union said it would impose “targeted measures” on the regime, whilst rights watchdog Amnesty International slammed the sentence as “shameful” political theatre. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the results of next year's elections would remain in doubt unless Suu Kyi was released.

In Asia, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines called for an urgent meeting of the Association of Southeast Nations to address the verdict and India's Foreign Ministry issued a short statemen saying the junta had to expedite political reform. However, Myanmar's other powerful neighbour, China, remained mum.

Pavin Chachavalpongpun, an expert on Southeast Asian affairs, said the junta would now be able to judge how it should proceed as it had wanted “to test the reaction from the international community. It does not know how to deal with Aung San Suu Kyi.”

Out of the picture ahead of elections

Although there is a new generation of dissidents emerging, Suu Kyi remains a figure of utmost importance for the pro-democracy movement and has long been a thorn in the side of the junta. They want to keep her out of the public eye until next year’s elections are over.

The generals seem less worried about the fate of some 2,000 other political prisoners.

Although another excuse would probably have been found to keep Aung San Suu Kyi out of the picture, the generals were able to exploit the strange fact that an American swam to her lakeside residence earlier this year to their advantage.

John Yettaw, who was sentenced to seven years in jail and hard labour on Tuesday, had apparently wanted to tell Suu Kyi that he had dreamt of an assassination attempt on her life. Suu Kyi was then accused of breaching the terms of her house arrest, which was supposed to come to an end this year.

The 64-year-old Nobel laureate has spent almost 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest and is reportedly not in the best of health.

She was escorted back to her home after the verdict, whilst protests against the junta erupted around the world.

Author: Anne Thomas
Editor: Disha Uppal