court rejected opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s appeal to overturn her Aug. 11 conviction for breaching a detention order, a spokesman for her party said today.
Lawyers for Suu Kyi will appeal the verdict to the Supreme Court, said Nyo Myint, a Thailand-based spokesman for the exiled wing of her National League for Democracy party. The Nobel laureate was sentenced to three years in jail and hard labor, which the junta commuted to 18 months under house detention, ensuring she won’t be free to participate in elections next year.
The court case “will go on for another three months,” Nyo Myint said. “The regime’s winner-takes-all strategy would be disturbed by her freedom.”
The fate of Suu Kyi and about 2,000 other political prisoners was discussed at a New York meeting between U.S. and Myanmar diplomats this week. It was the first meeting between the countries in “many, many years” as the U.S. shifts its policy to start direct talks with the military junta, State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley told reporters Sept. 30.
Suu Kyi, 64, has spent more than 13 years in detention since her National League for Democracy won Myanmar’s last elections in 1990, a result rejected by the military. The court found her guilty of breaking her house arrest order by allowing an uninvited American man to stay at her home for two days.
Nyo Mint said the case would be appealed to head of state Senior-General Than Shwe, should the appeal to the Supreme Court be rejected.
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