Myanmar’s detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, 78, is moved to house arrest over heatstroke fears – three years after she was locked up in prison following military coup

Myanmar’s detained former leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved from prison to house arrest, a spokesperson for the military government said.

Suu Kyi, 78, has been detained – at times in solitary confinement – by the Myanmar military since it overthrew her government in a 2021 coup. 

‘Since the weather is extremely hot, it is not only for Aung San Suu Kyi … For all those, who need necessary precautions, especially elderly prisoners, we are working to protect them from heatstroke,’ junta spokesperson Major General Zaw Min Tun said in comments reported by local media outlets.

Suu Kyi has been serving a 27-year prison term in the capital Naypyitaw on a variety of criminal convictions from treason and bribery to violations of the telecommunications law her supporters and rights groups say were fabricated for political reasons. 

A nationwide conflict in Myanmar began after the army in 2021 ousted the elected government, imprisoned Suu Kyi and began suppressing nonviolent protests that sought a return to democratic rule.

The health of detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi , seen left, has been worsening in recent years. She is seen next to detained president Win Myint during a 2021 court appearance

General Min Aung Hlaing, leader of the junta, has ruled Myanmar since Suu Kyi’s deposition and arrest in February 2021

In February, her son Kim Aris said she was being held in solitary confinement and that she was in good spirits ‘even if her health is not as good as it was in the past’.

Aris has previously said how he wanted his mother to be returned to her home in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon.

Last fall, he called the decision by the military leaders to keep his mother in prison while she is suffering from poor health ‘heinous’ in an interview with The Independent.

‘To hold someone illegally in prison, a move condemned by the outside world, is compounded into further and heinous wrong when basic human rights are abrogated,’ he said.

World leaders and pro-democracy activists have repeatedly called for her release.

In February, her youngest son Kim Aris, 46, seen here, said she was being held in solitary confinement and that she was in good spirits ‘even if her health is not as good as it was in the past’. 

 Myanmar’s military says Suu Kyi has been moved from prison to house arrest as health measure due to a heat wave in the country 

Her legal team is continuing to appeal to prove her innocence in the cases, as well as working on appeals for 14 others she faces.

A spokesperson for the NUG shadow government called for the unconditional release of Suu Kyi and U Win Myint, Myanmar’s ousted president, who has also been moved to house arrest according to the media reports.

‘Moving them from prisons to houses is good, as houses are better than prisons. However, they must be unconditionally freed. They must take full responsibility for the health and security of Aung San Suu Kyi and U Win Myint,’ spokesperson Kyaw Zaw said late on Tuesday.

General Min Aung Hlaing, leader of the junta, has ruled Myanmar since Suu Kyi’s deposition and arrest in the coup of February 2021.