Burma, 2nd March, 2010: The Supreme Court in Burma has rejected an appeal by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi against an extension of her house arrest.Ms Suu Kyi has spent most of the past 20 years in some form of detention, despite her party overwhelmingly winning Burma's last general election. Ms Suu Kyi has already been disqualified from standing in these.
Her extended detention has been seen by some analysts as a further guarantee for the military that she will not be able to campaign for others in the elections either.
Her lawyer, Nyan Win, said the court had given no reason for its decision and that he would launch a "special appeal" against the ruling. British ambassador Andrew Heyn, who attended the hearing, said the decision was unsurprising but still "deeply disappointing".
"We continue to believe that [Ms Suu Kyi] should be released immediately along with the other 2,000 and more other prisoners of conscience," the Associated Press news agency quoted him as saying.
Ms Suu Kyi was due to have been released in May 2009 but was charged with breaching the terms of her house arrest after an American man swam across a lake to her house. Her house arrest was lengthened in August after she was convicted over the bizarre incident.
