Australia calls for Suu Kyi's release

(The Age) -Australia is using the occasion of Aung Sang Suu Kyi's birthday to again call for the Burmese pro-democracy leader's release.

It was part of a global chorus calling for the 64-year-old to be given her freedom after spending 13 of the last 19 years detained by the Burmese military regime.

She has been in and out of detention after the junta refused to recognise her National League for Democracy's (NLD) landslide victory elections in 1990.

The Nobel laureate is spending her birthday on Friday at Rangoon's notorious Insein prison, where she is being held on charges of violating her house arrest after an American man swam to her lakeside house.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith reiterated Australia's "grave concern" about Ms Suu Kyi's treatment at the hands of the Burmese junta.

"The Australian government calls again for her immediate and unconditional release, and the release of the more than 2,000 other political prisoners in Burma," he said in a statement.

"This would be a first step towards meaningful change in Burma, and towards ending Burma's isolation.

"Australia stands with Aung San Suu Kyi and hopes she will celebrate her next birthday in freedom."

Hollywood stars like Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts, celebrities Madonna and David Beckham joined with others around the globe urging the Burmese junta to give her freedom.

Many posted online messages on social networking sites and videos on YouTube in what human rights groups called an unprecedented and enormously powerful tool to harness support for Ms Suu Kyi.

Mr Smith said Ms Suu Kyi's arrest and current trial under the oppressive state protection law "give every appearance of being a device to extend her detention".

"The Australian Government and the international community will continue to watch closely and urge the regime to drop its spurious charges," he said.