Burmese state mouthpiece defends Suu Kyi detention
· Staff and agencies
· Wednesday June 11 2008
The detained Burmese opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. Photograph: Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/EPA
A state-controlled newspaper in Burma today said the country's military rulers were acting within the law in holding the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for a sixth consecutive year.
The junta's recent decision to extend Suu Kyi's detention by one year sparked international outrage, with the Nobel Peace laureate's party and foreign defence lawyers arguing that the regime could legally hold her for only five years.
But a commentary in the New Light of Myanmar paper said detentions were permissible for as long as six years under a 1975 law "safeguarding the state from dangers of subversive elements".
Yearly extensions must be approved by the council of ministers and then by the central body, which includes the home, defence and foreign affairs ministers, the newspaper said.
The regime extended Suu Kyi's house arrest on May 27 despite international pressure to set her free. She has been detained for over 12 of the last 18 years.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party denounced the extension as illegal and urged the regime to open a public hearing on the case.
Jared Genser, a US lawyer Suu Kyi's family hired to push for her release, also condemned her continued detention as illegal.
"The Burmese junta's extension of Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest in clear violation of its own law comes as no surprise," Genser said at the time.
"Adherence to the rule of law is not their forte, and the junta remains deeply concerned about her appeal to the Burmese people."
This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Wednesday June 11 2008. It was last updated at 15:30 on June 11 2008.
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