Statement by U.S. President Barack Obama on the Conviction and Sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi

by Danny Fisher

“More than 1,000 Myanmar nationals and Japanese supporters marched here Saturday on the 21st anniversary of a failed bloody uprising against the ruling junta.” Image via the Agence France-Presse.
This from the White House:

    For Immediate Release: August 11, 2009

    The conviction and sentencing of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi today on charges related to an uninvited intrusion into her home violate universal principles of human rights, run counter to Burma’s commitments under the ASEAN charter, and demonstrate continued disregard for UN Security Council statements. I join the international community in calling for Aung San Suu Kyi’s immediate unconditional release.

    Today’s unjust decision reminds us of the thousands of other political prisoners in Burma who, like Aung San Suu Kyi, have been denied their liberty because of their pursuit of a government that respects the will, rights, and aspirations of all Burmese citizens. They, too, should be freed. Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. I call on the Burmese regime to heed the views of its own people and the international community and to work towards genuine national reconciliation.

    I am also concerned by the sentencing of American citizen John Yettaw to seven years in prison, a punishment out of proportion with his actions.

      [- U.S. President Barack Hussein Obama]