Burma Releases Aung San Suu Kyi After Almost 2 Decades
As we reported yesterday it looked like the pro-democracy party leader Aung San Suu Kyi was about to be released after spending 15 of the last 21 years under house arrest.
Today, it finally happened amidst jubilant scenes around the house that was her previous prison. With Thousands of people gathered she tried to speak but was unable to be heard.
The worlds most prominent political prisoner was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and is now 65 years old and has spent most of her life fighting the military rulers of her country.
She married a British man, Michael Aris who eventually lost a fight with cancer but is survived by their 2 sons. During Michael’s illness the 2 were not allowed to see each other.
President Obama said that Ms Suu Kyi was “a hero of mine” and that the release is long overdue.
“Whether Aung San Suu Kyi is living in the prison of her house, or the prison of her country, does not change the fact that she, and the political opposition she represents, has been systematically silenced, incarcerated, and deprived of any opportunity to engage in political processes,” he said.
The UN said that there were another 2,200 political prisoners that needed to be released for there to be a clear sign that the new government was going to respect human rights and build a new country.
Photo: Wikipedia GNU
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