Free world must fight for Myanmar’s ousted leader

The guilty verdict and lengthy jail sentence imposed on Myanmar’s ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on charges of inciting public unrest and breaching COVID-19 rules have drawn global condemnation after a trial that was described as a “farce.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Suu Kyi’s conviction and the repression of other democratically elected officials by the military regime an affront to democracy and justice.

“We reiterate our call for the regime to engage in constructive dialogue with all parties to seek a peaceful resolution in the interest of the people, as agreed to in the ASEAN five-point consensus. We join the people of Myanmar in their aspirations for freedom and democracy and call on the regime to end the use of violence, respect the will of the people, and restore Myanmar’s democratic transition,” he said.

The UK also called on the military leadership to release political prisoners and engage in dialogue to allow democracy to return to the country. “The sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi is another appalling attempt by Myanmar’s military regime to stifle opposition, and suppress freedom and democracy,” Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said.

Meanwhile, the EU and UN have shared the same sentiment in support of Suu Kyi, who won international praise with her calls for nonviolent resistance during years of struggle to bring democracy to her people.

For years, Suu Kyi was viewed as a symbol of peaceful resistance against oppression and military brutality. Forced to choose between her personal freedom and the fight for her homeland, she left her British husband and their two sons in the UK in 1988 to follow in the footsteps of her father.

Aung San was a military general who became a national hero and was considered the father of modern-day Myanmar after negotiating Burma’s independence from Britain in 1947. He was assassinated when Suu Kyi was two years old.

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