Opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was freed Saturday in Myanmar after years in detention as a huge crowd presented flowers and chanted “Long Live Suu Kyi.”
Myanmar, formerly Burma, has been ruled by a Marxist military junta since 1962. The military regime has cracked down on political dissidents, forcing thousands to flee.
In a statement released Saturday, President Barack Obama called Suu Kyi a personal “hero” and called for the military regime to “release all political prisoners, not just one.” “The United States looks forward to the day when all of Burma’s people are free from fear and persecution,” Obama said in Saturday’s statement.
Soldiers armed with rifles and tear gas launchers pushed aside the barbed-wire barriers blocking Suu Kyi’s street at 5:15 p.m., leading to a gleeful dash the final 100 yards to her gate. Twenty minutes later, the slight pro-democracy opposition figure known here simply as “the lady” popped her head over her red spiked fence to a roar from jubilant supporters.
“It’s very happy to see the people,” she said, barely audible over the chanting. “It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen you.”
Suu Kyi, whose been in detention for 15 of the last 21 years in a country under brutal military rule, promised to speak at greater length Sunday at the headquarters of her political party.