World Wants Suu Kyi Free: Ban

By LALIT K JHA
The Irrawaddy News

WASHINGTON—UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday said the world wants Aung San Suu Kyi free and that by sentencing her to another five-year prison term, the Burmese junta would miss another opportunity to engage the international community.

“They will have missed a very important opportunity, first of all, to engage with the international community, and they will be betraying the expectations and wishes of all the international community who really want to see Myanmar fully integrated as a member of the international community,” Ban said at a news conference held at the UN headquarters in New York.

The international community, Ban said, wants to see Suu Kyi freed to enjoy freedom and liberty like anybody else in the world.

Responding to questions, Ban said he has been closely following the developments in Burma since his recent return from the country.

“I hope they will keep their pledges which were conveyed to the [UN] Security Council a few days ago, officially—that at the request of the secretary-general of the United Nations—they would be taking necessary procedures to grant amnesty to political prisoners,” Ban said.

“Detailed information has not been given, and I am concerned that they are continuing this judicial process on Aung San Suu Kyi,” he said.

“When I was there, I made it quite clear repeatedly that all the charges should be dropped and she should be freed. We will continue to press on this issue,” Ban said.

Meanwhile, a US State Department official said he hoped that US mission officials in Rangoon would be able to attend the final court hearing related to Suu Kyi. “You know there’s an American citizen who is also on trial. We expect the final verdict Friday,” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said.