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WLB Statement Remarking Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's 64th Birthday

Today 19 June is the 64th Birthday of Burmese Democratic leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who will spend her birthday in notorious Insein Prison in Rangoon.

                                                                  

Most of 13 of the last 19 years, she has been kept under house arrest by the military junta that now runs the country. She is the world’s only incarcerated Nobel Peace Prize laureate. On 14 May, she was taken to Burma’s Insein Prison to face criminal charges as part of a concerted plan to deny her freedom.

 

The new charges brought against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi are completely erroneous and only meant to continue her already illegal detention and further affect her health and security. With this new unfair charge, she can be imprisoned up to 5 years.

 

We strongly condemn her detention, which has also been condemned around the world. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has issued opinions affirming that the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi dating back to 2003 is arbitrary, unjustified, and in contravention of Burma’s own law.

 

The UN and the international community has consistently and repeatedly called for the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners in Burma as well as a return to true political dialogue. The trial of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi stands as a firm marker of the regime’s defiance against the world and its people.

 

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is vastly respected by all non-SPDC aligned groups in Burma, and her ability to help bring genuine national reconciliation should be even more reason for her immediate and unconditional release.

 

We, therefore demand her immediate and unconditional release and start the meaningful political dialogue for the national reconciliation and restoration of democracy in Burma. We also hope that the Government of India will intervene in the current debacle by urging the Burmese generals to release Aung San Suu Kyi and to be firm with the regime in respecting democratic principle.


 
 

For more information:

Thin Thin Aung:       +91-9891252316

Kakang:                     +91-9899789207