On June 28th, after the reception at the Elysee by French president François Hollande yesterday and the one at Hôtel de Ville by Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoë, Burma's historical leader Aung San Suu Kyi met lawmakers in the National Assembly and in the Senate. Then she went to the Musée Marmottan to take part in a meeting organized in her honor by the Women's Forum for the Economy and Society. Several French and European personalities, including Emma Bonino, were invited to Paris to pay tribute to this remarkable woman, renowned for her longstanding commitment for the progress of democracy and human rights in her country.

Emma Bonino and Aung San Suu Kyi met for the first time in 1996, when the Radical leader, European Commissioner at the time, went to Rangoon and decided to visit, almost in clandestinity, the democratic leader of Burma, who couldn't leave the country for fear that the military junta wouldn't allow her to return. On the evening of 13 November 2010, Suu Kyi was released from house arrest and his Party, the National League for Democracy, achieved excellent results in general elections that were held in April this year.

Photo © Cyril Bruneau