Aung San Suu Kyi, elected leader of the Burmese people
Aung San Suu Kyi was today awarded Amnesty International's highest honour, the Ambassador of Conscience Award. The human rights group said it hoped this would help protect the Burmese pro-democracy leader as she faces a potential prison sentence. Amnesty secretary-general Irene Khan said the award coincided with the 20th anniversary of Ms Suu Kyi's initial arrest on 20 July 1989, as she led a campaign to oust Burma's military dictators.
Rock band U2 were due to announce the award tonight at a Dublin concert. U2, who won the honour in 2005 in recognition of singer Bono's humanitarian work, have been honouring Ms Suu Kyi at each performance of their European tour.
Bono
Closing arguments were heard today in the trial of Nobel Peace laureate and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, marking a transition into a crucial phase of her court case and her 20-year non-violent struggle against Myanmar's military junta. The court's verdict could come at any time.
Suu Kyi could spend as many as 5 years in Myanmar's notorious Insein Prison — which some have referred to as the "darkest hell-hole in Burma" — if she's convicted. Critics have condemned the regime's trumped-up charges as a flimsy pretext for keeping her in prison and out of the country's 2010 elections.
Meanwhile, Myanmar authorities have been cracking down on other democracy activists outside the courtroom. The military regime arrested at least 50 opposition party members on Sunday as they peacefully observed the anniversary of the death of Myanmar independence hero Gen. Aung San.
While the trial was initially open to journalists and diplomats, Myanmar authorities closed the courthouse doors, leaving the international community in the dark on the subsequent proceedings. The country's military junta is hoping that by the time the court reaches a verdict in Suu Kyi's case, the world will have long since forgotten about her.
Ms Suu Kyi's opposition party, the National League for Democracy, won national elections in 1990 but the military refused to relinquish power. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 but has been under house arrest for 14 of the past 20 years.
Ms Khan said: "In those long and often dark years, Suu Kyi has remained a symbol of hope, courage and the undying defence of human rights." Ms Suu Kyi, 64, is on trial for allegedly violating the terms of her house-arrest: harbouring an American who swam to her Rangoon home uninvited. The offence can carry a five-year prison sentence. Foreign diplomats have been barred from key parts of her trial. Her supporters accuse Burma's junta of seeking to put her behind bars until after elections planned for next year.
Saffron Revolution crushed in 2007
Former Czech President Vaclav Havel, a fellow Nobel Laureate and the first winner of the award in 2003, said foreign recognition probably has deterred Burma's rulers from imposing even harsher punishments on Ms Suu Kyi. "I know from my own experience that international attention can, to a certain extent, protect the unjustly persecuted from punishments that would otherwise be imposed. Goodness knows what would have happened if her fate had not been highlighted as it is again today," Mr Havel said in a statement.
Her trial has been adjourned until tomorrow. Ms Suu Kyi's lawyer, Nyan Win, said he expected a verdict in two or three weeks. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (64) is a non-violent pro-democracy campaigner and leader of the opposition National League for Democracy in Myanmar (Burma). According to the New York Times she has been held under house arrest for 14 of the last 20 years by the military junta. In 1991 Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her peaceful and non-violent struggle under a military dictatorship.
The decision of the Nobel Committee mentions:
"The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 1991 to Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar (Burma) for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights.
...Suu Kyi's struggle is one of the most extraordinary examples of civil courage in Asia in recent decades. She has become an important symbol in the struggle against oppression...
...In awarding the Nobel Peace Prize for 1991 to Aung San Suu Kyi, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to honour this woman for her unflagging efforts and to show its support for the many people throughout the world who are striving to attain democracy, human rights and ethnic conciliation by peaceful means."
Let us all condemn the self serving Burmese Junta who have imprisoned a whole Nation and cut shabby deals to enrich themselves and their families with the natural resources of what should be the richest nation in the region. What brave Generals they are who have only ever fought against their own people whilst running a kleptocracy. How they must fear the reckoning which is surely to come. Let us join Amnesty International in honouring Daw Aung San Suu Kyi the democratically elected leader of Burma, daughter of the leader of its struggle for independence and a true daughter of Burma.
Free Aung San Suu Kyi and free the people of Burma from the military freeloaders who enslave them.
Here is Aung San Suu Kyi’s website;
http://www.dassk.com/index.php
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the grounds of the Rangoon house where she has been imprisoned for most of the past 20 years
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