The foreign minister has condemned the unfair trial of Daw Aung Suu Kyi. Photo by Johannes Jansson

TALLINN — Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet condemned today the alleged unjustified trial and the conviction announced on Aug. 11 that placed Myanmar opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Daw Aung Suu Kyi under 18 months of house arrest.

“The conviction of Daw Aung Suu Kyi is a blow to Myanmar’s national reconciliation process, and excluding the opposition leader from the 2010 elections places the transparency and credibility of the elections under serious suspicion,” Paet said.

“We call upon the government of Myanmar to immediately free Daw Aung Suu Kyi and the rest of the political prisoners and to honor the human rights and basic freedoms of its citizens.”

Estonia has called upon Myanmar’s military regime to begin an inclusive and constructive dialogue with the democratic opposition and representatives of ethnic minorities.

In a statement issued on behalf of all the European Union member states on Thursday, the EU presidency Sweden stated that the European Union will respond by implementing additional restrictive measures with the military government of Myanmar, including expanding the list of individuals that are forbidden to enter the European Union and the freezing of assets.

The European Union also plans to take harsher economic sanctions against the government of Myanmar.