Burma Frees Aung San Suu Kyi's Cousin

by Ma Nguyen Tong

13-1-2002

The military government in Burma freed a relative of the opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and four members of her National League for Democracy (NLD). The release of Cho Aung Than, the cousin and liaison officer of Aung San Suu Kyi, was seen as a significant conciliatory gesture by the military authorities.

He was arrested in June 1997 and given a seven-year sentence under an emergency law, and a three-year sentence under a law banning unlawful association. The government said 207 political prisoners had been released since Aung San Suu Kyi began secret reconciliation talks with the military government in October 2000. The NLD says more than 800 of its members remained in custody although the government disputed the figure.

Neither side had made public the content of the talks. But on Independence Day at the beginning of Jnuary 2002, the NLD demanded the start of a meaningful political dialogue, signalling increasing frustration with the slow pace of progress.

Aung San Suu Kyi had been held under house arrest since September 2000 after confronting the authorities over restrictions on her movements. The NLD won a general election in 1990 that the military refused to recognise.