JUNTA URGED TO RELEASE AILING AUNG SAN SUU KYI IMMEDIATELY

The Members of Parliament Union (MPU) strongly urges the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) to immediately and unconditionally release Aung San Suu Kyi who has been admitted to a private hospital in Rangoon for serious medical problem.

Kyodo News Agency said Aung San Suu Kyi had been hospitalized at the private Asia Royal Hospital late Wednesday and had undergone the operation on her uterus on Thursday morning. The hospital was being guarded closely by more than a dozen undercover police and military intelligence officers since she was admitted.

"We are gravely concerned about health and security of Aung San Suu Kyi. The generals must bear all responsibilities for consequences arising from the incommunicado detention of Aung San Suu Kyi”, said Daniel Aung, MPU Vice President.

“We have, during the past fifteen years of military rule, seen that some NLD leaders and parliamentarians-elect died in custody due to lack of proper medial treatments for their deteriorating health problems. We don’t want similar miseries again. So we strongly urge the SPDC to release Aung San Suu Kyi along with all political prisoners immediately and unconditionally”, said Daniel Aung.

Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, 58, has been detained at an undisclosed location since May 30, after ambush on her motorcade by junta-affiliated thugs while she was on a political tour in Upper Burma. It resulted in seventy dead and many dozens injured. Moreover, all senior NLD leaders have been detained and all NLD offices have been sealed and shut down.

It is the third time Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained since 1989, when she was placed under house arrest for six years. She was detained for a second time in late 2000 before being released in May 2002 amid hopes that a political settlement was imminent.

The MPU consistently calls on the military junta to release all political prisoners and enter meaningful dialogue with the NLD led by Aung San Suu Kyi and representatives of the ethnic nationalities for a negotiated political settlement in Burma.

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For further information, please contact:
1. Mr. Maung Maung Latt (Secretary of MPU), Mobile: (+66) 1 733 3891 (Thailand)
2. Dr. Myint Cho (Director of MPU), Tel/Fax: (+61-2) 9646 1211 (Australia) or
Mobile (+61) 402 135 767