Aung Sann Suu Kyi on Non-Violence
Biography |
Her Calling |
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Turmoil
- The Union military told Suu Kyi that if she agreed to leave the country, they would free her, she refused to do so, explaining that her struggle would continue until the junta released the country to civilian government and political prisoners were freed.
- In 1990, a election was held, and the party which Suu Kyi was now apart of—the National League for Democracy—won more than 80 percent of the parliamentary seats. The election results, though, were ignored by the junta. Twenty years later, they formally annulled the results.
- Suu Kyi was released from house arrest in July 1995
- Three years later, she founded a representative committee and declared it as the country's legitimate ruling body, and in response, in September 2000, the junta once again placed her under house arrest. She was released in May of 2002.
- In 2003, the NLD clashed in the streets with pro-government demonstrators, and Suu Kyi was yet again arrested and placed under house arrest. Her sentence was then renewed yearly, and the international community came to her aid each time, calling continually for her release
- May of 2009, just before she was set to be released from house arrest, Suu Kyi was arrested yet again, this time charged with an actual crime—allowing an intruder to spend two nights at her home, a violation of her terms of house arrest.
- That same year, the United Nations declared that Suu Kyi's detention was illegal, under Myanmar law. In August, however, Suu Kyi went to trial, and was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison. The sentence was reduced to 18 months, however, and she was allowed to serve it as a continuation of her house arrest.
- One law prohibited convicted criminals from participating in elections, and another barred anyone married to a foreign national from running for office (Suu Kyi's husband was English).
- In support of Suu Kyi, the NLD refused to re-register the party under these new laws and was disbanded. The government parties ran virtually unopposed in the 2010 election and easily won a vast majority
- As well as being separated from her husband, Suu Kyi was also separated from her children who live in United Kingdom. Since 2011, they have visited their mother in Burma on several occasions.
Time of Crisis
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Spokesperson
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