BURMA voted yesterday in its first election in 20 years as complaints of intimidation added to fears the poll was a sham to create a facade of democracy after decades of iron-fisted military rule.

Voters in the secretive military-ruled nation of Burma cast their first ballots in 20 years today, as slim hopes for democratic reform faced an electoral system engineered to ensure that most power will remain in the hands of the junta and its political proxies.

The highest court in military-ruled Burma dismissed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s latest bid for freedom today, turning down an appeal to end 14 years of house arrest, her lawyer said.

Burma’s detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was in “remarkable form” during a meeting with Western diplomats, UK ambassador Andrew Heyn said today.