Australia `concerned` about Suu Kyi

Australia has added its voice to the international outcry over charges against
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, informing Burmese authorities of Canberra's
"grave concerns".
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith has again called for the release of Ms Suu Kyi, who
on Monday went on trial on charges of harbouring an American who swam to her home
last week.
Ms Suu Kyi has spent most of the past 19 years detained in virtual isolation in her
crumbling compound since the Burmese military junta refused to recognise her
National League for Democracy's landslide victory in the country's last elections in
1990.
Now Burma's junta is ignoring a storm of international protest to push ahead with
charges that the 63-year-old violated the terms of her house arrest, which could see
her barred from standing in elections due next year.
Mr Smith said Australian diplomats in Rangoon had passed on Canberra's concern about
the situation in Burma.
"I am deeply concerned that the Burmese regime has laid new charges against Aung San
Suu Kyi and is currently detaining her in a house near Rangoon's Insein prison.
"The Australian Embassy in Rangoon has conveyed Australia's grave concerns over
these developments to the Burmese authorities, and is monitoring the case closely."
Mr Smith welcomed the weekend release of Ms Suu Kyi's doctor and called for Burma to
do the same with the opposition icon.
"The Australian government has long called for her immediate and unconditional
release and I repeat that call today," he said.
Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop called on the Rudd government to
work with the international community to condemn the junta's latest action against
Ms Suu Kyi.
"Every possible avenue should be explored to bring pressure to bear on the military
junta to drop these trumped up charges against her, which have been laid just days
prior to the expiration of (Ms Suu Kyi's) latest six-year home detention period,"
she said.
"Since 1990 when her political party won over 80 per cent of the vote in
parliamentary elections, the Burmese regime has ignored the will of the people and
have held Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years."
The Australian Greens urged the government to call for the immediate release of Ms
Suu Kyi.
"It's clear the Burmese military regime is stepping up its efforts to stifle
political dissent," said Greens senator Scott Ludlam, co-chair of Australian
Parliamentarians for Democracy in Burma.
"This requires a swift and decisive response from the international community."
Ms Bishop warned the charges against Ms Suu Kyi appeared to be aimed at preventing
her taking an active role in next year's elections.
"The Rudd government must do all it can to urge the ASEAN member countries and those
nations with closer relations to Burma to pressure the junta into releasing Suu
Kyi," she said.
With the exception of Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore, most members of the
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) have been silent on the latest
action by Burma, which is also a member of ASEAN.
Human Rights Watch called on ASEAN to put pressure on Burma.
"We really hope that they come out and ratchet up the pressure. Since Burma was
admitted 12 years ago, ASEAN has squandered any opportunity to speak more openly
about Burma," David Mathieson of Human Rights Watch (HRW) told the AFP newswire.