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Aung San Suu Kyi Sues to Keep Political Party Alive


Aung San Suu Kyi ( (File)
Aung San Suu Kyi ( (File)

Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has filed a lawsuit to prevent the dissolution of her political party under the country's new election laws.

The lawyer for the detained Nobel Peace laureate filed the suit on her behalf Thursday in Burma's Supreme Court. The attorney also filed a similar suit on behalf of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.

The NLD announced last month it would not participate in the upcoming elections because the new laws ban anyone convicted of a crime from becoming a member of a political party.

The party must re-register by May 6, or face dissolution.

The lawsuits also call on the Supreme Court to establish a parliament comprised of members who won the last democratic elections in 1990. Those elections were won by the NLD, but the ruling military refused to recognize the results.

Aung San Suu Kyi was convicted last year of violating the terms of her house arrest when she gave shelter to an American man who swam to her lakeside Rangoon house uninvited. She was sentenced to an additional 18 months under house detention.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP.

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