A book of solidarity for Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese opposition leader who was sentenced to a further 18 months under house arrest last week, will open at City Hall in Dublin this afternoon.
It will be opened by the Lord Mayor of Dublin Emer Costello.
The book will be open to the public for signing from 1pm to 5pm today and from tomorrow until Thursday from 10am to 5pm.
"Aung San Suu Kyi is a global icon of heroic and peaceful resistance in the face of military repression, and she takes her rightful place in history amongst other great civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King and Mahatma Ghandi who I know inspired her," said Ms Costello.
"As Lord Mayor of Dublin, I am calling on the military junta in Burma to immediately release Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest. "
She described the book as Dublin's response to "Aung San Suu Kyi's own powerful plea to people around the world to join the struggle for freedom in Burma when she said 'please use your freedom to promote ours'."
Aung San Suu Kyi was conferred with the Freedom of Dublin City on March 18th 2000, by former Lord Mayor, Mary Freehill. She has yet to sign the Roll of Freemen of the City, where a space has been left for her to sign.
"I am appealing to all Dubliners and visitors to the city, to sign the book of solidarity this week in support of releasing Aung San Suu Kyi from imprisonment, and to express their abhorrence for the plight of the Burmese people, living beneath the yoke of a military regime characterised by cruelty for the past 20 years," said Ms Costello.