Myanmar’s detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved from prison to house arrest, according to the military junta.
A spokesperson said the measure was taken due to extremely hot weather and that it was trying to prevent heatstroke among “all those who need necessary precautions, especially elderly prisoners”.
It is understood that both Aung San Suu Kyi, 78, and president U Win Myint, 72, have both been moved from prison, though it is not clear where they have been taken.
Both leaders have been held since the military seized power in a coup in February 2021, plunging the country into widespread conflict.
Concerns have previously been raised about the health of both former leaders. U Win Myint was reportedly treated for an unspecified disease in prison in June last year, and was fitted with a urinary catheter. In September last year, Aung San Suu Kyi’s son Kim Aris said she had such serious gum disease that she was struggling to eat.
Aung San Suu Kyi has spent nearly two decades under some form of arrest since 1989. Following the 2021 coup, she has been convicted of offences ranging from treason and corruption to violations of the telecommunications law – charges she denies. In total, she faces 27 years in prison, which means she could be kept in detention until she is more than 100 years old.
The UN security council has called for her release, while the cases have been criticised by rights experts. Very little is known about the proceedings in any of her trials, which cannot be accessed by media or observers.
“If any harm befalls Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and U Win Myint, the Myanmar junta leaders will bear direct responsibility and will be held accountable by the people of Myanmar,” said Dr Sasa, Minister of International Cooperation in the National Unity Government (NUG), which was set up to oppose the junta. The cases against the leaders had nothing to do with rule of law, he added.
He said the junta’s claim that the leaders had been moved in response to heatwaves rang hollow. “We know that Myanmar’s junta leaders have a history of dishonesty. The people of Myanmar deserve to know the true situation regarding their elected leaders,” Sasa said.
Both leaders have been denied family visits and necessary medical treatment, despite their deteriorating health, Sasa said.
Son Aris told the Guardian in an interview from his UK home late last year that he felt powerless to help his mother. “Nobody outside the prison has seen her for a long time,” he said. “Now, being unable to eat puts her life at risk. Given how many people lose their lives in prison in Burma [Myanmar’s former name], this is of grave concern.”
The two leaders are among more than 20,350 people being held by the military according to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners Burma, a monitoring group.
Over the past three years the military has arrested anyone suspected of trying to overthrow its rule, and has been repeatedly accused of using scorched earth tactics to stamp out an armed opposition movement that formed to oppose the junta.
However, in recent months the military has faced a series of humiliating defeats on the battleground, losing crucial territory along the border with Thailand, China and India, as well as areas of Rakhine state, in the west of the country.
With Reuters