Washington, D.C. - The chairman and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee today called on the military government of Burma to release human rights leader and democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi, who was brought before a Burmese court on short notice and sent to prison.

“Aung San Suu Kyi has devoted her life to the peaceful struggle for democracy and freedom for the Burmese people,” said Chairman Howard L. Berman and Ranking Member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. “The military junta should immediately release her, allow greater political freedoms in the country, and respect the human rights of all of Burma’s citizens.”

Aung San Suu Kyi is the only Nobel Peace Prize recipient currently imprisoned. She has been under house arrest for 13 of the last 19 years. She is the democratically elected leader of her country, having led her political party, the National League for Democracy, to win 82% of the seats in parliament in Burma's last election.  Congress has voted to confer on her its highest civilian honor, a Congressional Gold Medal.

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