New Delhi (Mizzima) - Bringing to an end, endless speculation, Burma’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to 18 months in prison, which was changed to a delayed prison term and she will be taken back to her lakeside home.

The court decision on Tuesday was a prison-term of three years initially but it changed the verdict to a delayed prison term of 18 months. In a seeming concession she will be allowed to have a television, read newspapers, and accept guests at her home.

While her two live-in party mates, Khin Khin Win and Win Ma Ma, were sentenced to three years in prison with hard labour, the court said, Aung San Suu Kyi’s sentence has been reduced to 18 months as a concession because she is the daughter of General Aung San, considered the architect of Burma’s Independence from British rule.

Meanwhile, John William Yettaw, the American man, was handed  seven years in prison with hard labour, for abetting Aung San Suu Kyi to violate the terms of her house arrest and other charges including violation of the immigration law.

The Criminal procedure section 401 of the Burmese law says "suspend the execution of a sentence or remit the whole or any part of the punishment to which one has been sentenced".

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Immediately after the court announced the verdict on Aung San Suu Kyi, Lt-Gen Maung Oo, Minister of Home Affairs arrived in the court and read out an order signed by the junta’s military supremo Snr. Gen Than Shwe dated August 10.

The order states that if the court convicts Aung San Suu Kyi, half the sentence should be commuted and if she proves that she has good moral behaviour she should be freed.

Aung San Suu Kyi will be taken back to her home and kept under restrictions. She will be allowed to accept guests but only with the prior permission of  the authorities. For other rights she can send a written request, and she would be allowed to have a television and read newspapers.