Community | June 19, 2009 | 8 comments

Myanmar's Suu Kyi turns 64 amid outrage over trial

source: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE55I0Y720090619

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Kepano
Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi spent her 64th birthday in detention on Friday as supporters worldwide condemned her trial and called for tougher sanctions against the military regime.

Nyan Win, a lawyer defending the Nobel laureate who faces up to five years in jail, said Suu Kyi would be allowed a few visitors to Yangon's Insein prison, where she is on trial over charges she broke the terms of her house arrest.

"I'm going to send her some birthday presents and food so she can celebrate with a few guests," he told Reuters.

Confined for nearly 14 of the past 20 years, Suu Kyi's birthday has become an annual ritual inside and outside Myanmar for campaigners seeking an end to decades of military rule that has left the country an impoverished international pariah.

But the day has taken on added significance this year amid international outrage at her trial, which is widely expected to end with a guilty verdict.

Protests are planned outside Myanmar embassies in major capitals around the world.

An online campaign, www.64forsuu.org, drew thousands of messages of support, including good wishes from world leaders and celebrities.

"Aung San Suu Kyi is an inspiration to her country and the rest of the world," wrote former Beatle Paul McCartney. "I truly admire her infallible resolve and her determination to stand up for what she believes in."
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8 comments // Myanmar's Suu Kyi turns 64 amid outrage over trial

  • Mobius2012
    • 0
      Mobius2012  

    • I am very much aware of your struggles, although It is quite impossible for me to understand them as you've experience them....All I can say is that you are a very Brave and Noble woman that deserves a better world to live in, one of peace and freedom, and I send you my love Aung San Suu Kyi..

    • 2 years ago
  • div
  • calm_incense
    • 0
      calm_incense  

    • The story of Aung San Suu Kyi, and consequently of all of Burma, is easily one of the saddest of contemporary history. Imagine being 64 years old, having spent 14 of the past 20 years in confinement, and all for something as noble as fighting for democracy. It seems as if the rest of the world has forgotten someone it once deemed great enough to award a Nobel Prize.

    • 2 years ago
  • preston_romero
  • Mobius2012
  • Mobius2012
  • twitterbot
  • twitterbot
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