Radio Free Asia Hosts Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:   Sept. 18, 2012                                                                                                                                        

Contact: Rohit Mahajan 202 530 4976 mahajanr@rfa.org

Radio Free Asia Hosts Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi

Opposition leader commends RFA for keeping Burmese people informed

WASHINGTON, DC – Radio Free Asia (RFA) today hosted Aung San Suu Kyi at its Washington headquarters as part of her tour of the United States. The Nobel Peace Prize winner praised RFA for serving as a critical information lifeline for her and the Burmese people during the military junta’s authoritarian rule and the country’s current era of transition and reform.

“This is, in many ways, as I have been saying, the last mile,” Aung San Suu Kyi said. “This is the time we need all the help possible to make sure that our country keeps on the right path. This is another way of saying RFA is needed more than ever for us in Burma and for other people in other places, which are not yet free.”

Aung San Suu Kyi addressed her remarks to all RFA staff including its nine language services. Recently elected to serve as a member of Burma’s parliament, the leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) also shared her thoughts about the country’s future, underscoring the need establish rule of law to achieve lasting democratic reform and an end to ethnic divisions that have plagued Burma. During her visit, Aung San Suu Kyi was interviewed by RFA’s Burmese Director; met with RFA President Libby Liu and Vice President John Estrella; and spoke over tea with RFA Board members Michael Meehan, Victor Ashe, and Susan McCue, and with RFA leadership.

RFA’s Burmese language service will broadcast its interview with the Nobel laureate by radio, satellite television, and digitally online as part of its daily webcast. Aung San Suu Kyi’s visit to the United States marks her first since she was placed under house arrest in 1990. Aung San Suu Kyi will address the United Nations in New York and receive the Congressional Gold Medal from U.S. lawmakers on Capitol Hill over the next week.

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Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media.  RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors.