Rights activists hold portraits of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a protest in front of Burmese embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (file photo)The Chosun Ilbo
Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been sentenced to 18 more months of house arrest. The sentence drew condemnation from foreign governments and human rights groups.
Security forces surrounded Insein Prison in Rangoon Tuesday as the verdict was handed down. The court sentenced Aung San Suu Kyi to three years in prison. But in a move that demonstrated the supremacy of the ruling military, the home minister shortly announced that the country's top general, Than Shwe, had ordered the sentence commuted to one-and-a-half years under house arrest.
The 64-year-old has been imprisoned at Insein since she was charged of violating her house arrest in May when American John Yettaw swam to her lakeside house and stayed there for two days. Shortly after the verdict, she was returned to her home.
Critics say the charges against Aung San Suu Kyi were fabricated and her punishment aimed at preventing her from participating in elections scheduled next year.
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