Myanmar Court's Ruling on Suu Kyi Disappoints Indonesia

JAKARTA LIFE'S STYLE. The Indonesian government is deeply disappointed by the Myanmarese court’s decision to sentence pro-democracy figure Aung San Suu Kyi to 18 months of house arrest. "The long imprisonment seems to be intended for effectively preventing Aung San Suu Kyi to participate in the general elections to be held next year," foreign ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said here on Tuesday.

He said Suu Kyi’s absence would make the election process not inclusive and strengthen the belief that the election would not run in a credible way. "The penalty seems clumsy and unfair because the police who should have been held responsible for the case was not legally processed," he said.

He stated that Suu Kyi’s cruel detention for the past 13 years by the government had also been made without a court ruling prompting members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to call for her release. On Tuesday the court in Yangon sentenced the noble laureate to three years in jail and hard labor for violating house arrest rules after a US citizen swam to her detention house in May.

Than Shwe, the junta leader, however had signed a decision to reduce the penalty to one and a half years of house arrest. The US citizen, John Yettaw, 54, was jailed for seven years of hard labor.

Aung San Suu Kyi has spent 14 of 20 years of house arrest since the junta refused to accept the victory of her National League for Democracy Party in the general elections in 1990. Critics have accused the junta of using the accusation as a pretext to prevent her from participating in the general elections in 2010 as the ruling was given just several days before her house arrest expired.

The military has ruled that country with an iron fist since 1962. Suu Kyi’s case has triggered international condemnations on the military regime including strong sanctions from the US and the European Union. (kompas.com0