Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi urged people to stand up for their rights and seek democracy in military-ruled Burma, in a rare address after gaining her freedom from house arrest.
Thousands of supporters cheered Aung San Suu Kyi Sunday as she spoke at her National League for Democracy party headquarters in Rangoon. She said freedom of speech is the basis of democracy.
In comments to VOA, a reporter at the scene described the crowd as "overwhelmed and overjoyed" by her release. Aung San Suu Kyi told the crowd she would work with all democratic forces, and she encouraged people to come to her political party and tell them their concerns.
Aung San Suu Kyi walked free outside her lakeside home in Rangoon Saturday to the applause of thousands of her supporters and the acclaim of world leaders who lauded her decades-long fight against Burma's military rulers.
Her house arrest for the past seven years was the latest in a series of detentions that has kept the Nobel Peace Prize laureate confined for 15 of the last 21 years.
Speaking briefly in Burmese, she said "If we work in unity, we will achieve our goal."
Aung San Suu Kyi led her National League for Democracy to a landslide victory in Burma's national election two decades ago, but the military rulers refused to allow it to assume power.
Speaking to the crowd, she said last Sunday's elections were not democratic. The balloting was widely viewed by Western leaders and human rights activists as rife with fraud and an attempt by the military to put a civilian facade on its continued rule. The military-backed party has already claimed a majority of seats in both houses of Parliament.
The rulers did not allow international observers to enter Burma to watch the voting, but there were reports of punishment being meted out to those who voted against the military's political party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party.
As the 65-year-old woman known in Burma simply as "The Lady" was freed, police removed barricades around her home and truckloads of riot police cruising the streets left the area.
Aung San Suu Kyi's release raises immediate questions about how much freedom the military rulers will grant her. Her lawyer said Sunday that her release is unrestricted and unconditional.
U.S. President Barack Obama was among world leaders to welcome her release, saying that she was "a hero of mine." He said Aung San Suu Kyi was "a source of inspiration" for everyone fighting for human rights in Burma and around the world.
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