Burma's icon of democracy is free

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FE Team | Published: November 14, 2010 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

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The pro-democracy leader of Myanmar and the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been released by the military authorities in Burma, report agencies.
She was detained for 15 of the past 21 years.
Following her release, Ms Suu Kyi, Burma's icon of democracy, appeared on a platform at the gate of her compound, wearing a traditional lilac dress. The crowd chanted, cheered and sang the national anthem.
"There is a time to be quiet and a time to talk. People must work in unison.
Only then can we achieve our goal," she told the crowd. She then returned inside her home along with senior officials of her now-banned party, National League for Democracy (NLD).
As Aung San Suu Kyi walked free after seven years as a prisoner in her own home, she called on a sea of jubilant supporters to unite in the face of repression.
Waving and smiling, she appeared outside the crumbling lakeside mansion where she had been locked up by the military rulers, to huge cheers and clapping from the waiting crowds.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner firmly indicated that she has no intention of giving up her long fight for democracy in what is one of the world's oldest dictatorships.
Many people hugged each other with joy at the sight of the 65-year-old dissident, known in Myanmar simply as "The Lady". She appeared in good health after her latest stretch of detention.
"I'm so glad to see her in person, but she looks older than before. The last time I saw her was in 2002," said one supporter, Hein Win.
Suu Kyi asked the crowd to come to her party's headquarters at noon to-day (Sunday) to hear her speak after she struggled to make herself heard over the roar of cheers, then went back inside her home as the crowd lingered outside.
Her supporters rushed to her house in Rangoon as they heard the news of her release. Nearby barricades were removed by the security forces.
The decision by Burma's ruling generals to release Ms Suu Kyi follows the elections last Sunday.
In the election, the political party supported by the military government won the country's first election in 20 years. The ballot was widely condemned.
The junta has said the election marks the transition from military rule to a civilian democracy, but the opposition, many Western governments and human rights groups have said the election was neither free nor fair.
The NLD -- which won the last election in 1990 but was never allowed to take power -- was ordered to dissolve after refusing to take part.
A quarter of seats in the two new chambers of parliament will be reserved for the military. Any constitutional change will require a majority of more than 75% - meaning that the military will retain a casting vote.
Since Saturday morning, crowds of people had been waiting anxiously for news of Ms Suu Kyi's fate near her home and the headquarters of her NLD party. Many wore T-shirts sporting the slogans "We stand with Aung San Suu Kyi".
By late afternoon, a stand-off had developed between armed riot police and several hundred people who had gathered on the other side of the security barricade blocking the road leading to her lakeside home. Some of them later sat down in the road in an act of defiance.
As tensions rose, reports came in at about 1700 (1030 GMT) that the security forces had started removing the barricade.
Soon after, official cars were seen entering the compound, and unnamed officials then said that the release order had been read to Ms Suu Kyi.
Hundreds of people then surged forward and rushed towards her home to greet her.
World leaders were quick to welcome her release, with US President Barack Obama hailing her as "a hero of mine" and said it was time for the Myanmar junta to free all political prisoners.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron said her release had been "long overdue", describing her detention had been a "travesty".
"Aung San Suu Kyi is an inspiration for all of us who believe in freedom of speech, democracy and human rights."
French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned any restrictions on her freedom would "constitute a new unacceptable denial of her rights".
Although she has been sidelined and silenced by the junta -- occasionally released briefly only to be put back in confinement -- for many in the impoverished nation she still embodies hope of a better future.
Despite the risks of opposing the military regime in a country with more than 2,200 political prisoners, many supporters wore T-shirts bearing her image and the words: "We stand with Aung San Suu Kyi."
Undercover police were photographing and filming the crowds.
Some fear that junta chief Than Shwe will continue to put restrictions on the freedom of his number one enemy.