Aung San Suu Kyi

Political Leader, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

Burma

Aung San Suu Kyi is the leader of the National League for Democracy in Burma, a noted prisoner of conscience, and an advocate of non-violent resistance. Between 1989 and 2010, she spent nearly 15 years under house arrest during which time Václav Havel continuously supported her on the international stage and – symbolically - repeatedly invited her to the Forum 2000 Conferences. Suu Kyi played a key role in the partial Burmese transition to democracy in the 2010s and, as State Counsellor, effectively lead the government. In 2013, she finally could attend the Forum 2000 Conference in Prague and address its Opening Ceremony. After the Burmese military took power in a coup d'état in February 2021, she was again subjected to persecution by the regime. In December 2021, in a sham trial, Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to four years in prison.In 1991 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her peaceful and non-violent struggle under a military dictatorship.