JURIST - Paper Chase: EU imposes sanctions on Myanmar judges involved in Suu Kyi verdict

[JURIST] The Council of the European Union [official website] on Thursday announced sanctions [press release, PDF] against members of the Myanmar judiciary responsible for the verdict [JURIST report] against opposition pro-democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive]. The latest sanctions are in addition to a number of sanctions already in place against Myanmar. According to the press release from the 27 member states:

Under the new restrictive measures, members of the judiciary responsible for the verdict are added to the existing list of persons and entities subject to a travel ban and to an assets freeze. Moreover, the list of persons and entities subject to the restrictive measures is extended to cover the assets freeze to enterprises that are owned and controlled by members of the regime in Burma/Myanmar or by persons or entities associated with them.

An EU spokesperson said that state-owned media [NYT report] and 58 other enterprises would also be subject to sanctions. Also Thursday, the UN Security Council [official website] voiced "serious concern" [UN News Centre report] over the verdict and sentence.

Earlier this week, Suu Kyi and American John Yettaw were convicted of violating state security laws after Suu Kyi, who was under house arrest, allowed Yettaw to stay in her home after he swam across a lake to visit her. Suu Kyi was sentenced to 18 more months of house arrest, and Yettaw was sentenced to seven years in prison, with four years of hard labor. Lawyers for both parties have indicated that they plan to appeal [JURIST report]. The verdict has been widely criticized by world leaders and human rights groups, with many calling for her immediate release. Suu Kyi, a prominent human rights activist, has spent 12 of the past 18 years in prison or under house arrest for alleged violations of an anti-subversion law [text, PDF].