Suu Kyi calls for release of Pussy Riot singers

AFP/Google, Fabienne Faur (AFP), 20 September 2012

Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar speaks during a town hall

meeting hosted by Amnesty International (AFP, Saul Loeb)

WASHINGTON — Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on Thursday called for the release "as soon as possible" of punk band Pussy Riot -- whose members are jailed in Russia -- during an Amnesty International event.

The opposition lawmaker, currently visiting the United States, said that she "would like the whole group to be released as soon as possible," in a response to a question posed during her discussion with 300 youths.

"Was it anything in the song that was nasty to other people?" asked the Nobel peace laureate, who was freed at the end of 2010 after spending much of the previous 15 years under house arrest.

When told her comments could be seen as criticizing the Russian government, she said -- to the laughter and applause of the crowd -- that "governments must be prepared to take criticism."

"It's a different matter if you are insulting other people individually," Suu Kyi told the audience, which included Pyotr Verzilov, husband of one of the imprisoned singers.

Three members of Pussy Riot were convicted in August of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, and sentenced to two years in a labor camp, for a performance against Russian President Vladimir Putin in an Orthodox cathedral.

The band is scheduled to begin an appeal on October 1.

Suu Kyi spent an hour answering questions about her house arrest and her philosophy on human rights during the event at the Newseum, a museum dedicated to media and journalism.

She said the years she spent confined to her home were "worth it."

"I never thought I was making any sort of sacrifice. I never thought I was suffering.

"I never forgot that I was much more fortunate than my colleagues who were in jail," she added.

Suu Kyi said she has "always been very fond of the military," adding that her father, who was assassinated in 1947, when she was two years old, "founded the modern Burmese army.

"My earliest memories of him were in uniform," the opposition leader said, using Myanmar's former name.

She also condemned the use of violence, saying those who resort to it are "undermining the very foundations of human rights."

She advised her young admirers to follow her example: "When something troubles me I think to myself, well, after 24 hours this will seem less serious.

"And the moment I think like that, the whole thing is much more easier."

Suu Kyi has been in Washington since Monday as part of a three-week trip across the United States. The pro-democracy activist has received a rapturous welcome during the visit, her first since her release from house arrest.

Myanmar was ruled by an iron-fisted junta for decades but, since taking office last year, a reformist government under former general Thein Sein has freed political prisoners and allowed Suu Kyi's party into electoral politics.