Burmese pro-democracy activists protest against Suu Kyi's house arrest

New Delhi, Aug.12 (ANI): Burmese pro-democracy activists condemned a Myanmar court for sentencing Aung San Suu Kyi to 18 months house arrest and held demonstration here on Wednesday.

A Myanmar court on Tuesday (August 11) sentenced Aung San Suu Kyi three years jail term sentence with hard labour for violating terms of her house arrest when an American citizen John Yettaw swam to her lakeside home in May and stayed there uninvited for two day when she was under dentention.

However, the sentence was later reduced to 18 months under house arrest.

Myanmar courts have in the past been known to favour the ruling military junta, which has ruled Myanmar since 1962.

The verdict will keep her off the political stage through elections the military government has set for next year.

"Today we gather here in front of Burma embassy because military junta has---sentence (Aung) San Suu Kyi for one and half year.

This is illegal and it is not acceptable to the Burmese people. So it is also clear that because of this sentence military don't want to hand over the power to people. The reason we are demonstrating in front of Burma embassy, the ambassador and embassy staff they are the people so they should not support the Burma Junta," said Kim, campaign coordinator, Burma Centre, Delhi.

The demonstrators said that Aung San Suu Kyi should be released immediately.

"Our main demand is that Aung San (Suu) Kyi must be released immediately without any condition. She is innocent," said Kim, campaign coordinator, Burma Centre, Delhi.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who sacrificed her prosperous days in England to take up the crusade for democracy in her home country, Myanmar and later imprisoned by the military regime, has become the world's most famous political prisoners and an icon for the struggle of democracy.

Suu Kyi has been detained for more than 13 of the last 19 years. (ANI)