Depressing news that she has been sentenced to up to one and a half years further house arrest is not only a tragedy for her and her family, but also for the Burmese people who suffer daily at the hand of tyranny.

This was the moment for the generals to embrace the growing clamor for change and choose the path of reform demanded by the region and the global community.

They comprehensively shunned it. The charges were baseless, the verdict outrageous.

So the international community must respond to this latest injustice with a clear message to the junta that its tyrannical actions will no longer be tolerated.

Further sanctions to target directly the regime's economic interests have been agreed upon by the European Union in response to the verdict and must be implemented as quickly as possible.

And determined action in the United Nations Security Council must follow. Nothing less than a worldwide ban on the sale of arms to the regime will do as a first step.

An absurd mockery of justice

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