From the Trade Union Congress
TUC condemns Aung San Suu Kyi sentence
Commenting on the sentencing of Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi today (Tuesday), to a further 18 months under house arrest, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
‘This verdict against Aung San Suu Kyi is a complete sham. It is a flimsy excuse to shut her out of sham elections next year, held under a sham constitution.
‘It’s time to turn up the heat on the Burmese regime to force it to release all political prisoners, to allow unions to operate freely, to stop imposing forced labour on its citizens and to stop waging war against ethnic minorities in Burma.
‘This regime spends nearly half of its budget on its military. The global community needs to unite and cut off the supply of arms to the regime, to force it to begin a genuine transition to democracy.
‘The TUC backs the call for a UN global arms embargo against Burma, and we call on the UK and EU to support this and impose financial sanctions against this tyranny.’
NOTES TO EDITORS:
– The global arms embargo campaign is being coordinated by Burma Campaign UK at http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk
– All TUC press releases can be found at http://www.tuc.org.uk