Leaders decry Suu Kyi's sentence

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By Betsy Pisik

UNITED NATIONS | World leaders Tuesday denounced a Myanmar court's decision to sentence democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi to 18 months of house arrest, a term that will likely keep her from participating in next year's elections.

The Nobel peace laureate was originally sentenced to three years' of prison with hard labor for allowing an uninvited American to stay in her house for two days. A government representative immediately commuted the punishment, and permitted her to serve her time at home rather than in jail.

But the leniency was not enough to dim the outrage at the repressive and secretive junta.

"She should not have been tried, and she should not have been convicted," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters during her whirlwind Africa tour.

President Obama termed Mrs. Suu Kyi's conviction a violation of "the universal principle of human rights" and said she should be released immediately.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the trial "monstrous," while French President Nicolas Sarkozy condemned the punishment as "brutal and unjust."

American John William Yettaw, who swam across a lake to Mrs. Suu Kyi's villa, was sentenced to seven years of hard labor, despite suffering from epilepsy and diabetes. The 53-year-old from Missouri told the court at his own trial that he wanted to save the political prisoner from terrorists who came to him in a dream.

Sweden, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, indicated it would seek tighter sanctions against Myanmar's leaders, and toughen trade restrictions against certain state-owned companies.

Western capitals and many of Myanmar's Southeast Asian neighbors have tried to win Mrs. Suu Kyi's release for years, to little effect.

Members of the U.N. Secretary Council convened Tuesday afternoon to issue a statement, which is expected to demand the military junta immediately set free the democracy advocate and other political prisoners.

The discussion lasted less than two hours, and adjourned when a number of diplomats asked to postpone the vote until they receive instructions from their capitals.

"There is considerable support for the statement," British ambassador and council president John Sawers told reporters after the meeting. He said consultations on the draft statement would resume Wednesday.

Mrs. Suu Kyi has been in detention for 14 of the past 20 years, and the extension will remove her from the political scene next year when the junta holds its first election since 1990. Her party won in the polls then but was never allowed to take power.

Mrs. Suu Kyi looked alert but tired during the 90-minute court session, the Associated Press reported. She stood as the verdict was announced and then thanked foreign diplomats for attending her trial.

"I look forward to working with you in the future for the peace and prosperity of my country and the region," Mrs. Suu Kyi said in a soft voice to diplomats seated nearby. She then was led out of the courtroom.