[JURIST] Lawyers for Myanmar opposition pro-democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] said Friday that the Divisional Court in Rangoon has agreed to hear an appeal of her recent conviction [JURIST report] for violating state security laws. Suu Kyi was sentenced to an additional 18 months of house for allowing American John Yettaw to stay in her home after he swam across a lake to get there. Yettaw, who was sentenced to seven years in prison with four years of hard labor, was released [JURIST report] last month after negotiations with US Senator Jim Webb (D-VA). The court is scheduled to hear Suu Kyi's appeal, which was filed Thursday, on September 18.

Suu Kyi's conviction was condemned [BBC report] by many world leaders. The European Union (EU) [official website] issued a statement [press release] saying, "[t]he proceedings against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, on charges which were brought twenty years after she was first wrongfully arrested, have been in breach of national and international law. The EU urges the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release her." US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton [official profile] said [press release], "she should not have been tried and she should not have been convicted. We continue to call for her release from continuing house arrest." Last month, the Council of the European Union [official website] announced sanctions [JURIST report] against members of the Myanmar judiciary responsible for the verdict. Suu Kyi has spent 14 of the last 20 years in detention.