Could Aung San Suu Kyi be freed?
Iconic Burmese democracy fighter Aung San Suu Kyi could be freed, according to reports. But her lawyer tells Channel 4 News he will believe it when he sees it.
AFP is reporting that Aung San Suu Kyi – one of the most famous political prisoners in the world – could be freed in November, days after the country’s first election in 20 years.
The report suggested the 65-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner is due to be released from her house arrest on 13 November, after the country’s election on 7 November.
An unnamed official of the ruling Burmese junta told AFP: “November will be an important and busy month for us because of the election and because of Aung San Suu Kyi’s release.”
However, her New York-based lawyer Jared Genser told Channel 4 News: “As her lawyer, I would say I don’t believe what the Burmese junta says, I believe what they do. In the last 20 years they have said on countless occasions that they would release her and have not done so.”
'Take it with a pinch of salt'
The AFP news agency is quoting unnamed Burmese officials as saying Aung San Suu Kyi will be released when her current term of house arrest expires on November the 13th, writes Channel 4 News Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jonathan Rugman.
Well, we have heard that one before, and though Ms Suu Kyi's phone line has been cut and her post is intercepted under orders from Burma's power-crazed Generals, she has heard such promises before too.
Unable to telephone the NobeI Peace Prize winner herself, I rang the Foreign Office in London this afternoon to ask them what they made of the release report. "Take it with a pinch of salt", somebody said.
Read more from Jonathan Rugman: little optimism of Aung San Suu Kyi's release
Suu Kyi has been imprisoned in some form for the majority of the last 20 years, since her party the National League for Democracy won the last election in 1990.
Neither she nor her party will participate in the upcoming elections, which opponents have dismissed as a sham.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s “Group of Friends” of Burma, which includes Britain, the United States and the European Union, said this week that the election would not be credible unless the political prisoners were released.
Mr Genser said: “Ultimately whether she is released or not does not change the fundamental situation in Burma – that this is not a fair election and there is a onesided constitution which guarantees military rule in perpetuity.
“If she is released – and as her lawyer, I would say wait and see – it is only the first step on a very long road for that country.”