Suu Kyi's house-arrest sentence appealed

YANGON, Myanmar, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Myanmar announced amnesty for 7,114 prisoners, a move seen by critics as a means of drawing attention from detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

As the prisoners awaited their release Friday for "good conduct and discipline," Suu Kyi's lawyers appealed to the high court the 64-year-old pro-democracy fighter's 18-month house-arrest sentence, widely condemned around the world, CNN reported.

Speaking to CNN, exiled journalist Aung Zaw, founder of the independent Irrawady publication, said Suu Kyi doesn't stand much of a chance of being freed or getting her sentence reduced, even though the country's military junta faces tough sanctions from around the world.

Myanmar was formerly called Burma.

"The regime wants to prevent her from participating in the 2010 elections," he told CNN while speaking from Thailand. "This government is very manipulative."

Aung Zaw also said the so-called amnesty covers only criminals and not political prisoners. Human rights groups say there are 2,100 political prisoners, including Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who has spent 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest.

She was given the 18-month sentence on charges of violating her house arrest rules by allowing American John William Yettaw into her home, although she denied knowing the American.

Yettaw was sentenced to hard labor, but U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., won his release when visiting Myanmar.