Brown 'appalled and saddened' by Burma's verdict on Suu Kyi

London, Feb 27(ANI): British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said that he is "appalled and saddened" that Burma's Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to be freed from house arrest.

Reacting over the verdict, which comes ahead of Burma's elections that have raised deep suspicions among the opposition and overseas, Brown said: "I am appalled and saddened that Aung San Suu Kyi's appeal against the sentence imposed by the regime has been denied. That failed appeal is sadly no surprise. From start to end, the sole purpose of this show trial has been to prevent Suu Kyi from taking part in elections."

"In my open letter to Aung San Suu Kyi in December, I said that this should be a historic year for Burma. Free, fair and genuinely inclusive elections would allow the country to move forward, to map a new path."

"But while she is kept out of political life and while over 2,100 other prisoners of conscience remain incarcerated, the regime's elections will not gain recognition nor international legitimacy," The Daily Express quoted Brown, as saying.

The 64-year-old Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for most of the past two decades since her National League for Democracy swept 1990 elections.

The junta plans to hold fresh elections later this year.

Her incarceration was lengthened by 18 months in August last year after being convicted over a bizarre incident in which a US man swam to her lakeside home. (ANI)