Myanmar Dissident Begins Sixth Year of House Arrest
When she begins her sixth year of detention today, one of the world’s most famous political prisoners probably will follow what her husband once described as an “austere and disciplined” regimen.
At her lakeside home in Myanmar’s capital of Yangon, Aung San Suu Kyi, 49, will rise before dawn to meditate and listen to the news on shortwave radio. The rest of the day, she will read, exercise and do household chores.
At night, she will listen to music. She is said to prefer classical but recently has expressed a fondness for the reggae of the late Bob Marley.
Suu Kyi, leader of the pro-democracy movement in Myanmar, formerly Burma, and winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, was arrested July 20, 1989, under a law against “subversive elements.”
Daughter of the country’s founding father, Gen. Aung San, who was assassinated in the run-up to independence in 1948, she has grown in stature as she stoically waits for the junta to deliver on promises of restoring democracy.
In 1990, her National League for Democracy won a landslide election victory, but the military nullified the results and cracked down on opponents.
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