Ms San Suu Kyi (centre) talks with US envoy for East Asia Kurt Campbell (right) at a state guesthouse in Yangon on Monday. -- PHOTO: AFPYANGON (Myanmar) - MYANMMAR'S detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi is making a final bid for freedom, lawyers said on Tuesday after submitting a request for a special appeal against her house arrest.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has already lost two appeals against an August 2009 conviction, most recently at the country's High Court in February. Her last legal option is the Special Appellate Bench, a multi-judge panel in the remote administrative capital of Naypyitaw.
Lawyers filed their appeal on Monday at the High Court, which will decide whether to forward the case to the special court for consideration, said attorney Nyan Win.
The 64-year-old Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for 14 of the past 20 years. In August 2009, she was convicted of violating the terms of her house arrest for briefly sheltering an American who swam uninvited to her home, and she was ordered to serve three years in prison with hard labor. The trial drew global condemnation.
Ms Suu Kyi's sentence was commuted to 18 months of extended house arrest, which would keep her detained through elections planned for later this year. An initial appeal was rejected in October 2009 and upheld by the High Court in February.
Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy Party, which won the country's last election in 1990 but was not allowed to take power, was disbanded last week after refusing to register for the upcoming polls. -- AP
No comments:
Post a Comment