Burmese Opposition Says Ready to Fight “Unlawful Detention” of Suu Kyi

Text of report in English by Thailand-based Burmese publication Irrawaddy website on 28 May

[Report by Saw Yan Naing: "Regime Must Explain Suu Kyi's Detention: NLD"]

Burma’s main political opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), told the Burmese military government on Wednesday that the party is ready to fight against the unlawful detention of its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.

The NLD also called on the regime to explain in legal terms why they are extending the house arrest of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Nyan Win, a spokesperson for the NLD, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, “We are ready to prove why the extension is illegal. If the Burmese junta thinks her continued detention is legitimate they must provide reasons and evidence.”

The NLD stated that it would appeal the decision through legal means.

The military regime announced on Tuesday that Aung San Suu Kyi’s detention had been officially extended for six months, although several sources have claimed that the detention order was for one more year.

Suu Kyi completed five years of house arrest this week. Under the conditions of her detention, Article 10 (b) of the State Protection Act Law 1975, a person can be detained for a maximum of five years.

Suu Kyi has spent more than 12 of the last 18 years under house arrest following the NLD’s landslide victory in the 1990 parliamentary election. She has been confined to her home at Inya Lake in the north of Rangoon continuously since May 2003.

On Tuesday, 18 members of the NLD were arrested and are currently being detained by Burmese authorities after they marched towards Suu Kyi’s home in a demonstration marking the 18th anniversary of the 1990 general election.

Meanwhile, international leaders and human rights groups are deeply upset over the extension of Suu Kyi’s house arrest and have criticized that Burmese government for violating its own law.

US President George W. Bush said in a statement on Tuesday: “I’m deeply troubled by the Burmese regime’s extension of National League for Democracy General Secretary and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi’s house arrest.”

Bush said the US would keep calling for the release of all political prisoners in Burma and urge the government to hold a genuine dialogue with Suu Kyi and other democratic and ethnic minority groups.

Speaking on Tuesday as president of US human rights organization Freedom Now, lawyer Jared Genser said, “The Burmese junta’s extension of Aung San Suu Kyi’s house arrest in clear violation of its own law comes as no surprise.”

Freedom Now says it is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that works to free prisoners of conscience worldwide through legal, political and public relations advocacy efforts.

Genser, who is also lead counsel for Aung San Suu Kyi, said, “It is the Burmese junta itself that has politicized relief efforts – through its unwavering pursuit of two rounds of voting on its sham referendum and now extending Aung San Suu Kyi’s house arrest – even as millions of ordinary Burmese people are suffering,”

Thailand-based human rights group, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), also released a statement calling for Suu Kyi’s immediate release.

Originally published by Irrawaddy website, Chiang Mai, in English 28 May 08.

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