A campaign of political and emotional blackmail forced Burmese dissident Aung San Suu Kyi to stay away from her husband's deathbed.
She has also had to face the agony of knowing she could not be with her sons Kim and Alex at their father's funeral.
She said the ruling Burmese generals refused to give her husband, Oxford don Dr Michael Aris, a visa to visit her as his illness worsened, because they did not have the medical expertise to help him. But when a team of staff from Oxford's Churchill Hospital offered to travel with him, they still refused.
She told the BBC's south east Asia correspondent, Matt Frei, that the authorities in Burma were blackmailing her emotionally, knowing that if she travelled to Oxford to be with her family she would never be allowed back to continue her fight for Burma's democracy.
She said: "They were desperate to get me out of the country and they thought my husband's illness would give them the perfect opportunity."
Story date: Tuesday 06 April
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