Freedom - Sort of

The release of Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of Burma’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party, from house arrest was greeted with jubilation – but now that has died down, the question arises of whether she will ever be truly free.Suu Kyi has spent nearly two decades in detention for defying the military junta that runs Burma (or Myanmar, as it insists it be called) and which recently staged a sham election aimed at cementing its grip on power.The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) says it won more than 75% of the parliamentary seats contested, but this figure is meaningless, given that turnout in some districts was as low as 30%, a number of key opposition figures were barred from participating, and widespread vote-rigging was alleged.The generals have already built themselves a fortress-like headquarters outside of the capital, Rangoon, and would appear to believe that Suu Kyi no longer poses a threat. All they have to do is invent another excuse to imprison her, should she challenge them again.A website about the Nobel laureate is at www.dassk.org Myanmar’s official website is at www.myanmar.com, a photo journal of Burma is at www.hillerphoto.com/burma, and opponents of the regime have sites at: www.freeburmacoalition.org and www.dvb.no