Malta condemns Suu Kyi sentence

Foreign Minister Tonio Borg has in a statement expressed sadness and dismay after Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was handed down another home prison sentence yesterday.

"Her sentencing is a political act of intolerance intended to prevent her from her legitimate political activities in view of the regime's elections planned for next year," Dr Borg said.

"The regime in Burma/Myanmar cannot project itself as an international outlaw and must free its political opponents and stop political persecutions. So long as Aung San Suu Kyi and all those political opponents imprisoned in Burma remain in detention and are prevented from playing their full part in the political process, the planned elections in 2010 will have no credibility or legitimacy."

The regime must realize that the international community will not tolerate this situation. That is why the EU has agreed to impose tough new sanctions targeting the economic interests of the regime."

Aung San Suu Kyi will now serve a further one and a half years under house arrest. She has already spent 13 of the past 19 years under house arrest.

The new sentence was condemned by the EU at the United Nations yesterday, and the EU has decided to impose more sanctions against the regime.