The bad news: A Myanmar court found democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi guilty of violating her house arrest.
The good news: The head of the military-ruled country ordered her to serve an 18-month sentence under house arrest. So, it's more of the same for the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Why is that good news? She could have been sent to prison, where it would have been far too easy for the military junta to make her disappear or die under mysterious circumstances.
As reported by the Associated Press, the junta chief said she received a reduced sentence to "maintain peace and tranquility" and because Suu Kyi was the daughter of Aung San, a revered hero who won Myanmar's independence from Britain.
It is a small comfort that a even a brutal dictatorship can be reined in. The reduction of sentence is a small acknowledgment by the junta that it knows its own people and the international community care about the fate of this courageous woman.
The ruling re-establishes the status quo. But it gave the junta an excuse to extend her house arrest and keep her out of next year's elections.
As to the American, John Yettaw, who put Suu Kyi into jeopardy of going to prison, I was at first angry and dumbfounded that anyone would do something so reckless as to swim to her home. But with the reports of his seeing visions, having seizures and other health problems, he may not be as responsible. In America, he would probably be hospitalized and treated, not sentenced to hard labor.
But then again, in America, we wouldn't put democratic leaders under house arrest.
UPDATE: I was up in the middle of the night, watching the news reports on this decision. Commentators were saying that this was an unbearable decision for Suu Kyi, and they speculated that she would probably start a hunger strike.
In the struggle for freedom against a dictatorship, the status quo becomes unbearable.
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