There was absolutely nothing surprising about today's verdict by a Burmese court in the case against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for violating the conditions of her house arrest: guilty with a three-year prison sentence "commuted" to 18 months under house arrest. We at Amnesty International had anticipated that this is what the government would do: a guilty verdict but a less-than-maximum sentence would be the government's back-handed "concession" to the international community's pressure and concern.
Yet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is a prisoner of conscience, and as such, should have never been detained in the first place. The only acceptable "concession" is her immediate and unconditional release.
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