By Matt Schofield, Star Editorial Page Columnist

Lost in the news that Burmese human rights activist (and Nobel Peace Prize winner) Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to 18 months of house arrest was this tidbit:

Fifty three year old Missourian John Yettaw was sentenced to seven years, including four years of hard labor.

It's a monstrous sentence, completely unjustifiable and while President Obama has already questioned his sentence, it needs to remain a front-burner item in his administration.

At the least, the hard labor and length of sentence have to be taken away.

Four years at hard labor, for a man reportedly suffering from diabetes, heart problems and who was just hospitalized for epileptic convulsions is, essentially, a death sentence.

No one denies he is not guilty of a pretty stupid stunt.

But here's a breakdown of his "crimes":

Three years for breaching Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest.

Three years at hard labor for immigration law violations.

One year, also at hard labor, for swimming in a restricted zone.

There's never been any doubt that this case was anything but an excuse by Burma's ruling junta to keep Aung San Suu Kyi away from the public until after elections early next year.

In early May, Yettaw swam across a lake to her compound, without invitation. He said he had come because of a vision of an assasination attempt.

She tried to convince him to leave, quickly, but relented when he explained he was too sick for the return journey. He ended up staying overnight.

He should not have made that trip. Granted.

It was a mistake, and the type of thing anyone traveling in a military dictatorship should know will be harshly dealt with.

But even by military dictatorship standards, this is an impossibly harsh sentence for what amounts to nothing more than a silly act.

Yettaw, if the sentence isn't commuted, will struggle to survive this sentence.

The real goal, keeping Suu Kyi out of circulation until after the elections, has already, if wrongly, been accomplished.

The new sentence adds to the fact that she's been wrongly imprisoned for 14 of the past 20 years by her country.

But many, many voices worldwide are demanding Burma reconsider her case. She's vitally important to the future of human rights in Burma.

Yettaw is an international after-thought. He can't be expected to serve such a harsh sentence.