Mizzima-Oct 15
The Forum 2000 Conference in Prague, Czech Republic ended Tuesday with the reiteration of a call for the release of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from jail and a call to support democracy from 2025 Nobel Peace Laureate Maria Ms Corina Machado. The calls were the culmination of the three-day 29th Forum 2000 Conference entitled “Facing the Odds: Democratic Resilience in Action”. At a time when democracies face unprecedented internal rifts, in parallel with rising authoritarianism, widespread disinformation and the rapid pace of technological change, the conference chiefly examined how people can reconfigure the cooperation between global democratic actors to address these challenges. On day one of the conference, Mr Kim Aris, son of Myanmar’s democracy icon and Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, called for his mother’s release from prison in Naypyidaw, citing concerns for her health. He called for the release of all political prisoners in Myanmar and the return to democracy. Mr Aris’s call was made in an online video call to the conference. Suu Kyi is 80 years old. The three-day conference included a panel discussion entitled: “Myanmar: Are democracies truly unwilling to help the struggle for freedom”. The panelists reminded the audience of the challenges Myanmar faces in the wake of the 2021 military coup, which has plunged the country into a bitter civil war. Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her “non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights” in Myanmar. She was under house arrest at the time, and the prize recognized her leadership in the pro-democracy movement against the country’s military rulers. She is currently serving 27 years of imprisonment in Naypyidaw under trumped up charges. Read more at: https://eng.mizzima.com/2025/10/15/27241
