More than 1000 people were gathered outside her lakeside home in the hope of seeing the 65-year-old dissident, known to her supporters simply as "The Lady".
Excited supporters, who had waited outside her home for a glimpse of their idol, cheered and began to surge forwards as police began removing barricades around Suu Kyi’s crumbling mansion where she has been locked up by the military junta for most of the past two decades.
The authorities went inside to read the order to release her from house arrest, a government official said.
Although she has been sidelined and silenced by the junta - occasionally released briefly only to be put back in confinement - for many in the impoverished nation she still embodies hope of a better future.
"I think of her as my mother and also my sister and grandmother because she's the daughter of our independence leader General Aung San," said 45-year-old Naing Naing Win.
"She has her father’s blood."
Despite the risks of opposing the military regime in a country with more than 2200 political prisoners, many supporters wore T-shirts bearing her image and the words: "We stand with Aung San Suu Kyi".
Undercover police were photographing and filming the crowds.
