A court in Burma has found opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi guilty of violating an internal security law.
The court sentenced the pro-democracy leader to three years in prison but that was immediately reduced to 18 months on the orders of the military government, which said she could serve the time in her Yangon home.
A guilty verdict had been widely expected in a case critics say was fabricated by the military regime to keep Ms Suu Kyi out of circulation ahead of a general election scheduled for next year.
The charges stemmed from a mysterious incident in which US man John Yettaw swam uninvited to her lakeside home in May and stayed there for two days, which breached the terms of her house arrest.
Mr Yettaw, 54, was sentenced to a total of seven years in prison and hard labour by the court.
He got three years for breaching security laws, three years for immigration violations and one year for a municipal charge of illegal swimming.
The verdict in Burma, officially known as Myanmar, has provoked international condemnation.
The UN chief, Ban Ki-moon, demanded the opposition leader's release.
A UN security council meeting called by France to discuss the verdict ended without result and has been adjourned until tomorrow.
The EU called on the regime to free her immediately and has promised to take 'targeted measures' against those responsible for the verdict, by reinforcing sanctions against the regime.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was 'saddened and angry' at the 'monstrous' sentencing.
He described the move as politically motivated to prevent her from taking part in planned elections next year.
In a statement, he said it was 'further proof that the military regime in Burma is determined to act with total disregard for accepted standards of the rule of law in defiance of international opinion'.
'The facade of her prosecution is made more monstrous because its real objective is to sever her bond with the people for whom she is a beacon of hope and resistance.'
He called for the UN Security Council to impose a worldwide ban on the sale of arms to the regime.
Amnesty International condemned the conviction as 'shameful' political theatre and called for Ms Suu Kyi's immediate and unconditional release.
