By Xinhua,
United Nations: The UN Security Council is to hold consultations on the situation in Myanmar later Tuesday, a UN spokesperson said.
The 15-member body is due to meet at 3 p.m. (1900 GMT) to discuss issues in connection with the situation in Myanmar, including the sentencing of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi for another 18 months, Marie Okabe told reporters.
A special court set up in Myanmar’s Insein Prison found Suu Kyi, 64, guilty of breaking the terms of her detention by allowing a US national to swim into her lakeside compound-cum-prison May 3, and sentenced her to three years in prison with hard labour.
However, the military regime chief Senior General Than Shwe commuted the sentence to 18 months under detention in her family compound in Yangon.
The ruling drew huge criticism from the international community who urged the ruling junta to free the pro-democratic leader and push the process of political reforms in the country.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in a statement said he was “deeply disappointed” by the guilty verdict against Suu Kyi.
“The secretary-general strongly deplores this decision… and urges the government to immediately and unconditionally release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and to engage with her without delay as an essential partner in the process of national dialogue and reconciliation,” said a statement issued here Tuesday by his spokesperson.