Myanmar ex-leader Suu Kyi to be moved to house arrest
Myanmar’s detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be placed under house arrest, more than five years after the military overthrew the civilian government she led and jailed the Nobel laureate, state media reported.
Suu Kyi, 80, has since been detained by the junta and her whereabouts remain unclear amid a deadly civil war triggered by a February 2021 coup that has engulfed much of the impoverished country.
“The remainder of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s sentence has been commuted to be served at a designated residence,” state-run MRTV said, using an honorific for the veteran politician. he said.
State media also published a photo of Suu Kyi sitting on a wooden bench and flanked by two uniformed staff; This is his first public appearance in years.
Suu Kyi has not been seen in public since February 1, 2021, and the last official photo showing her was released on May 24, 2021, showing her in court.
At the United Nations meeting in New York, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric welcomed the news.
“We just saw the reports,” he said.
“I can say that we appreciate the transfer of Aung San Suu Kyi to so-called house arrest in a designated residence. This is a meaningful step towards conditions that enable a credible political process.”
Dujarric added that the only viable political solution in Myanmar “must be based on an immediate cessation of violence and a genuine commitment to inclusive dialogue.”
But Myanmar authorities’ announcement on Thursday did little to allay fears about his condition or even confirm that he was still alive, his son Kim Aris said in a statement.
“I still don’t know where my mother is. I don’t know how she is. I’m deeply concerned about whether she’s still alive,” he said.
“If he’s alive, I want proof that he’s alive.”
In December, Aris told Reuters that he had not heard from his mother for years, and that since her detention he had occasionally received second-hand information about her mother’s heart, bone and gum problems.
“It’s good to hear that house arrest has been approved, but we haven’t received any direct notification,” a member of the legal team told Reuters.
“We only learned about this from the press release.”
Following lengthy trials, Suu Kyi was sentenced to 33 years in prison following her conviction on charges ranging from encouraging corruption and election fraud to violating state secrecy rules, which her allies claimed were politically motivated and aimed at sidelining her.
This sentence was later commuted to 27 years, and then, with the New Year’s amnesty implemented in Myanmar on April 17, his ally and co-defendant, former president Win Myint, was released.
Earlier on Thursday, his sentence was reduced by a further sixth as part of a broader amnesty for all inmates in Myanmar prisons.
Suu Kyi, the daughter of former Burma independence hero General Aung San, was held under house arrest for a total of 15 years under previous junta rule at the family home in Yangon’s Inya Lake, where she delivered impassioned speeches to crowds of her supporters on the property’s metal gates.
Myanmar’s junta chief and president, Min Aung Hlaing, who ousted Suu Kyi in a coup, has faced persistent international pressure since the last election to release political prisoners, including from ASEAN, the Southeast Asian bloc with which he sought to reconnect after being barred from its summits.
Min Aung Hlaing told Thailand’s foreign minister last week that he was “well looked after” and that his government was considering unspecified “good things.”
with AP
