Free at last - Aung Sang Suu Kyi

There is a time to be quiet and a time to talk. People must work in unison. Only then can we achieve our goal.

Aung Sang Suu Kyi yesterday

from The Guardian

11.09am: Aung San Suu Kyi has finally been released. The BBC’s Adam Mynott says she is standing on a box outside her house, waving at the crowd, trying to quieten them so she can speak. » Audio report

GMT 11.24am: The BBC reports that Aung San Suu Kyi has briefly adressed the crowd. She said: “There is a time to be quiet and a time to talk. People must work in unison. Only then can we achieve our goal.” She has now gone back inside her house. It is unclear what her movements will be for the rest of the day, but she will speak at greater length tomorrow at midday local time.

GMT 11.36am: Zoya Phan, international co-ordinator at Burma Campaign UK, has described Aung San Suu Kyi’s release as a public relations exercise by the military junta, which should not be mistaken for a step towards democratic reform. “…it is designed to get positive publicity for the dictatorship after the blatant rigging of elections on November 7. We must not forget the thousands of other political prisoners still suffering in Burma’s jails.” There are more than 2,200 political prisoners in Burma held under vague laws frequently used to criminalise peaceful political dissent, according to human rights campaigners.

GMT 11.38am: Former prime minister Gordon Brown said: “There will be joy round the world at the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the world’s most renowned and courageous prisoner of conscience.”

courtesy of uppercaise