The detained former leader of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been transferred from prison to house arrest, according to reports from the country’s state media.
The 80-year-old Nobel laureate has been held in detention since she was ousted in a military coup in 2021. It is believed she was being held in a military prison within the capital, Nay Pyi Taw.
In a statement, military leader Min Aung Hlaing, who spearheaded the coup, confirmed he had commuted her remaining sentence to be served at a “designated residence”.
State media broadcast an image of the former leader sitting with two uniformed personnel, though the authenticity and timing of the visual have been challenged.
Her son, Kim Aris, expressed deep scepticism regarding the military’s announcement, stating he has no proof his mother is even alive. He dismissed the broadcast image as “meaningless,” asserting it was actually taken in 2022.
“I still haven’t seen any real evidence to show that she has been moved,” Aris told the BBC, adding that he would not believe the reports until independent verification of her condition and whereabouts is provided.
The former leader’s legal team informed Reuters they received no direct notification concerning the house arrest.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been largely invisible to the world since the military ousting five years ago; her lawyers have not seen her in over three years, and her family has lacked contact for more than two. Observers suggest this development may signal a “public relations offensive” by the ruling junta.
Sean Turnell, an Australian economist and former economic adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi who was also detained after the coup, told the BBC that the military is “trying to convince the world that it’s a legitimate government”.
Turnell, who was held in the same prison as the Nobel laureate, described the conditions there as “medieval” and “awful.” He noted that cells were “open to the elements” and that medical care and food were of poor quality-conditions he described as “terrible” for a woman of her age.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s original 33-year sentence has been reduced several times by the authorities. Her sudden appearance in state media follows a string of battlefield victories by the military against armed opposition groups, as well as a notionally democratic election held earlier this year that maintained military control.
While her international standing was significantly damaged in 2017 when she defended the military against charges of genocide involving the Rohingya at the International Court of Justice, Turnell noted that her popularity within Myanmar remains “extremely high.” He described her connection with the Burmese people as “almost spiritual”.
Aung San Suu Kyi previously spent more than 15 years under house arrest during earlier periods of military rule before coming to power in 2015 following democratic reforms.
