Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi
Preceded by	Aung Shwe
State Counsellor of Myanmar
In office April 6, 2016 – February 2, 2021
Preceded by	Office Established
Succeeded by	Min Aung Hlaing
President of the National League for Democracy
Incumbent
Assumed office  November 18, 2011
Born	June 19, 1945 (age 75) Rangoon, Burma
Religion	Buddhist

Outcry grows over Suu Kyi charges (May, 2009).

Aung San Suu Kyi (June 19, 1945, Rangoon - ) is the leader of the National League for Democracy in Burma and a former prisoner of conscience. The daughter of Burmese national hero Aung San, Suu Kyi is a pro-democracy activist committed to non-violence; she has been called the "Nelson Mandela of Asia". A Buddhist, Suu Kyi won the Sakharov and Rafto Prizes for Freedom of Thought in 1990. In 1991, she also became a Nobelist for her peaceful fight against a dictatorship.

Largely influenced by the example of Mahatma Gandhi, Suu Kyi entered politics to work on behalf of increased Burmese democracy, helping to set up the National League for Democracy on 27 September 1988. For this, she was placed under house arrest on 20 July 1989. The Burmese military junta offered to let her go into exile, but she refused. Various international figures, from George W. Bush to Ban Ki-moon, have called upon the junta leader General Than Shwe to release her, these requests have been ignored by the despotic regime for a long time. But on November 13, 2010 she was released from house arrest by the military junta. Today she is the leader of her party National League for Democracy.

She was deposed during the 2021 Myanmar coup d'etat.

After the coup

As of April 12, 2021, 2 months after her arrest, she has been hit with 6 different charges, the most severe is the Official Secrets Law which can carry a 14 year prison sentence if found guilty.

See also

• Aung San Suu Kyi's website