Burma’s military government has announced they will officially end the six-year house arrest of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, however, she remains in prison while on trial for supposedly breaking the rules of her detention.  The encouraging move suggests the oppresive regime may be responding to international pressure (and perhaps my blog post), and hopefully they will not use the trumped up charges to keep her locked up for the upcoming election.  It’s still unclear why an American man swam across the lake to Suu Kyi’s house (he better have a good reason), but it’s unlikely that she is in anyway to blame for the incident.  Her defense argues that she only provided temporary shelter, and more importantly that the Burmese government should be responsible for her safety while under house arrest and should have kept the area safe from intruders.  If convicted in the trail,  Aung San Suu Kyi could face another 3 to 5 years of imprisonment, which supporters say could put her already imperiled health at further risk.  Keeping her in prison would also allow the government to continue ruling unchallenged and add to their growing list of human rights abuses.

Be sure to join Amnesty International’s call for the immediate release of  Aung San Suu Kyi with the action link below and learn more about the trail from this video:

Photo: chucknhorus’ flickr photostream (creative commons)