Burma's Democracy Leader Aung San Suu Kyi Freed

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Burma's Democracy Leader Aung San Suu Kyi Freed

The 65-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who was detained for more than seven years, met thousands of supporters who greeted her at her home.

"If we work in unity, we will achieve our goal. We have a lot of things to do," she said, as reported by The Associated Press.

President Barack Obama welcomed the news and called her a hero.

"While the Burmese regime has gone to extraordinary lengths to isolate and silence Aung San Suu Kyi, she has continued her brave fight for democracy, peace, and change in Burma," Obama said in a statement. "She is a hero of mine and a source of inspiration for all who work to advance basic human rights in Burma and around the world. The United States welcomes her long overdue release."

Her release comes a week after the country's first general election in two decades. International bodies have accused the ruling military junta of rigging the Nov. 7 election.

According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a human rights watchdog, voters faced harassment, intimidation, violence and arrests in several of Burma’s ethnic states, during and immediately following the elections.

In Chin state, where most of the population is Christian, voters were refused entry to the polling station if they indicated that they would not be voting for the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party. Voters in other parts of Chin state were also threatened by USDP agents with arrest if they tried to vote, CSW reported.

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