Suu Kyi begins house arrest amid outrage
Thursday, 13 August 2009
YANGON,Aug 12 (AP): Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi awoke at her lakeside home Wednesday to begin serving the first full day of her latest house arrest, following her globally condemned conviction that lawyers said they would promptly appeal.
Only China - Myanmar's top trading partner and key ally - asked the world to respect the decision.
"The international community should fully respect Myanmar's judicial sovereignty," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement Wednesday. He said China hopes Myanmar can "gradually realize stability, democracy and development."
Suu Kyi, a 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was convicted Tuesday by a Myanmar court of violating her previous house arrest by allowing an uninvited American who swam to her home to stay for two days. She has already spent 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest - but Tuesday marked her first conviction.
Suu Kyi now begins 18 more months in detention behind a new barbed-wire fence that was erected at the lakeside entrance to her home, where American John Yettaw had entered.
She was initially sentenced to three years in prison with hard labor, but it was quickly reduced to 18 months of house arrest by the military-ruled country's chief, Senior Gen.
Only China - Myanmar's top trading partner and key ally - asked the world to respect the decision.
"The international community should fully respect Myanmar's judicial sovereignty," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in a statement Wednesday. He said China hopes Myanmar can "gradually realize stability, democracy and development."
Suu Kyi, a 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was convicted Tuesday by a Myanmar court of violating her previous house arrest by allowing an uninvited American who swam to her home to stay for two days. She has already spent 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest - but Tuesday marked her first conviction.
Suu Kyi now begins 18 more months in detention behind a new barbed-wire fence that was erected at the lakeside entrance to her home, where American John Yettaw had entered.
She was initially sentenced to three years in prison with hard labor, but it was quickly reduced to 18 months of house arrest by the military-ruled country's chief, Senior Gen.