The European Union (EU) on Thursday stepped up sanctions against Myanmar by adding members of the judiciary responsible for the verdict of Aung San Suu Kyi to the existing list of officials subject to a travel ban and to an assets freeze.

Moreover, the blacklist is extended to cover the assets freeze to enterprises that are owned and controlled by these officials or by persons associated with them, said a statement of the council of the EU, which represents the 27 EU member states.

The present EU measures are the latest of a series of measures which the EU initially adopted in 1996, such as banning arms exports, visa restrictions on officials, their allies and families, limiting diplomatic contacts and freezing officials' offshore accounts, and suspending non-humanitarian aid or development programs.

The EU on Tuesday condemned the verdict against Suu Kyi, branding the trial as unjustified. The EU urged the Myanmar authorities to immediately and unconditionally release her.

(Xinhua News Agency August 14, 2009)