Forty-Thousand Back Aung San Suu Kyi on Facebook

As Aung San Suu Kyi faces trial tomorrow, forty- thousand people are supporting her on the Facebook social networking website.

Thousands have left messages of support on the Aung San Suu Kyi Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aung-San-Suu-Kyi/9953503420?ref=pdb

The page is being used to promote and coordinate global campaign actions, including a global day of action on Monday, where demonstrations will take place in more than a dozen cities, including London, Bangkok, Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Canberra, Taipei, Barcelona, Paris, Stockholm, Ottawa, Barcelona, Cadiz, Sevilla, and Kuala Lumpur.

On Thursday Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of Burma’s democracy movement, was taken to the notorious Insein Jail. She was charged with breaking the terms of her house arrest after an American man, John Yettaw, swam to her house and refused to leave. The dictatorship are using the visit as an opportunity to extend her detention, which was expected to expire this month. Her trial starts on Monday and she could face a further five years in detention.

Her current period of detention began in May 2003 after a convoy she was travelling in was ambushed by a regime militia. She escaped with her life but dozens of her supporters were killed.

“Facebook is an excellent way to reach people and let them know about Aung San Suu Kyi and the situation in Burma,” said Johnny Chatterton, Campaigns Officer at Burma Campaign UK. “We are able to use Facebook to translate sympathy into action.”

The facebook page for Aung San Suu Kyi is at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aung-San-Suu-Kyi/9953503420?ref=pdb

The high number of supporters puts her in the top one hundred political leaders of all time, both past and present.

For more information contact Johnny Chatterton on 020 7324 4710

 

Related news

• One Year On From Suu Kyi Release – Most Political Prisoners Still In Jail
• Burma Regime’s Threats to Suu Kyi a Sign of Ban’s Failure
• Aung San Suu Kyi Reith Lectures
• Aung San Suu Kyi 66th Birthday - New Briefing - Ban Ki-moon Must Act
• Brighton Festival 2011 celebrates liberty with Guest Director Aung San Suu Kyi
• 16 Burma pro-democracy and ethnic organizations welcomed the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
• Aung San Suu Kyi - Statement from Gordon Brown
• Aung San Suu Kyi Released – 1 Down, 2,202 To Go
• Aung San Suu Kyi Reaches 15 Years in Detention
• Aung San Suu Kyi Release? We’ll Believe It When We See It