NOBEL LAUREATE Aung San Suu Kyi was expected to be released today as the Burmese democracy activist’s latest term of house arrest comes to a close, just one week after an election that many critics described as a sham.
There were reports that the country’s reclusive leader, Senior General Than Shwe, had signed an order for her release. She has been detained for 15 of the past 21 years, and her house arrest term expires today.
She probably poses no threat to the political system now given that the elections have just taken place, although Ms Suu Kyi has vowed not to accept a conditional release if it excludes her from political activity, and has said she will not give up her struggle.
Eyewitnesses said there was increased police activity outside her house in Rangoon, but as yet no official confirmation of a release.
Hundreds gathered in front of the headquarters of her party, the now-defunct National League for Democracy (NLD), which won the previous election in 1990 but was never allowed to govern. Many supporters were holding placards bearing her picture.
Freeing Ms Suu Kyi (65) is seen as the latest effort by the government to gain international legitimacy, coming after Burma held its first elections in 20 years last Sunday. Eighty per cent of the seats were won by the military’s Union Solidarity and Development Party.
The vote was widely seen as rigged to make sure the junta won the poll by a landslide. The largest opposition party, the National Democratic Force, said the government parties had introduced “advance votes” which rendered any gains the opposition made null and void. The second largest party, the Democratic Party, also conceded defeat.
Ms Suu Kyi was first detained in 1989 and freed in 1995. She was detained again in 2000, released in 2002 and detained again in 2003 after she and some supporters were attacked by a gang on a trip to the provinces.
She was given an extra 18 months for allowing a US intruder to stay at her home for two nights last year.
The man, John Yettaw, swam across a lake to her home to warn Ms Suu Kyi that “terrorists” would try to kill her, and God had sent him to save her.
Born in 1945, Ms Suu Kyi is the daughter of Burma’s independence hero Gen Aung San. She was educated at Oxford and returned to Burma in 1988, taking part in the revolt against the then dictator, Ne Win. A year later the junta declared martial law and she was placed under house arrest.
DEMOCRACY ICON: POLITICAL BATTLE HAS LET TO 15 YEARS OF INCARCERATION:
- Suu Kyi, born in Rangoon (now Yangon) in June 1945, is daughter of independence hero Gen Aung San, assassinated in 1947. Her mother, Khin Kyi, was also a prominent figure.
- Studied politics in New Delhi and philosophy, politics and economics at Britain's Oxford University. In 1972 she married British academic Michael Aris.
- Returned to Rangoon in April 1988 to take care of her dying mother at a time of countrywide pro-democracy protests against the army regime. Keen to continue her father's legacy, she entered politics and helped set up the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, becoming its secretary general, and calling for an end to military rule.
- The junta placed her under house arrest in July 1989 for "endangering the state". The next year, even without her, the NLD won 392 of 485 parliamentary seats in Burma's first election in almost 30 years. The military refused to relinquish power.
- Suu Kyi, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, has been in prison or under house arrest on and off for 15 years since 1989.
- Her husband died in Britain in 1999. Suu Kyi declined an offer from the junta to go to Britain for his funeral, fearing she would not be allowed back if she left.
- She had initially been freed in 1995, but was not allowed to travel outside Rangoon to meet supporters. A pro-junta gang attacked a convoy carrying Suu Kyi, top party officials and supporters near Depayin town in 2003. The junta said four people were killed. Rights groups said as many as 70 were killed . She was detained again soon afterwards.
- She was found guilty on August 11th, 2009, of breaking a security law by allowing US intruder John Yettaw stay at her home for two nights. Critics said the charges were trumped up to stop her having any influence over the polls.
- She has since made several offers to the junta to lobby the international community to lift a wide range of sanctions on the country, most of which have been in place for more than two decades. Junta strongman Than Shwe never responded, and the regime described her move as "insincere" and "dishonest".
- Suu Kyi said she "would not dream" of taking part in last Sunday's election, and her NLD boycotted the vote. As a result, the party was officially dissolved.
A breakaway NLD faction did contest the poll, but won only a handful of seats. - (Reuters)