Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has given her acceptance speech for the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, 21 years after her son accepted the prize for her while she was in detention.
In a speech in Oslo Saturday, Aung San Suu Kyi said the award came while she was under house arrest in Burma and did not feel, in her words, "quite real," or connected with the rest of the world. She said the prize helped her feel a part of the world community again.
Addressing the ongoing political reforms in Burma, she expressed concern for political prisoners, saying now that some of the best known prisoners have been released, those remaining in detention may be forgotten. She drew applause from the audience when she said, "one prisoner of conscience is one too many."
Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest in late 2010.
Later in her 17-day tour of Europe, Aung San Suu Kyi will address Britain's Parliament and receive an Amnesty International human-rights award in Dublin from rock star Bono. She will also travel to France.
Political changes have swept Burma after half a century of military rule ended. A new, nominally civilian government took over in March of last year, after being elected in November of 2010. Aung San Suu Kyi won a parliamentary seat this year in April elections.
The opposition leader received a celebrity's welcome Friday when she visited a session of the Swiss parliament.
Supporters of the rights group Amnesty International waited outside the Swiss parliament building in Bern to greet her with cheers and banners praising her human-rights work.
Source: VOA News
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