Myanmar’s detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi is to be moved to house arrest, state media reported on Thursday, more than five years after the military ousted the civilian government she led and imprisoned the Nobel laureate.
Suu Kyi, 80, has been held by the junta since the February 2021 coup, which triggered a deadly civil war that has engulfed much of the impoverished Southeast Asian nation. Her whereabouts have remained unclear throughout her detention.
State-run MRTV reported that “the remaining portion of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s sentence has been commuted to be served at a designated residence,” using an honorific for the veteran politician.
State media also released a photograph of Suu Kyi seated on a wooden bench and flanked by two uniformed personnel — the first public image of her in years.
At the United Nations headquarters in New York, spokesperson Stephane Dujarric welcomed the development.
“We’ve just seen the reports,” he said. “I can tell you that we appreciate the commutation of Aung San Suu Kyi to a so-called house arrest in a designated residence. It is a meaningful step towards conditions conducive to a credible political process.”
Dujarric added that the only viable political solution in Myanmar “must be based on immediate cessation of violence and a genuine commitment to inclusive dialogue.”
However, in a statement, her son Kim Aris said Thursday’s announcement by Myanmar authorities did little to ease concerns about her condition or confirm whether she was still alive.
“It is good to hear that the house arrest has been confirmed but we haven’t received any direct notification,” a member of her legal team told Reuters. “We only found out about it from the news announcement.”
33-Year Sentence
After a prolonged series of trials, Suu Kyi was sentenced to 33 years in prison following convictions on charges ranging from corruption and inciting election fraud to violating state secrecy laws. Her allies maintain that the charges were politically motivated and aimed at sidelining her.
The sentence was later reduced to 27 years, and further cut by one-sixth during a Myanmar New Year amnesty on April 17, which also saw the release of her ally and co-defendant Win Myint.
Earlier on Thursday, her sentence was reduced by an additional one-sixth as part of a broader amnesty covering prisoners across Myanmar’s jails.
Suu Kyi, the daughter of Burma’s independence hero Aung San, previously spent a total of 15 years under house arrest imposed by an earlier junta at her family residence on Yangon’s Inya Lake. During that time, she became known for delivering speeches to supporters gathered outside the gates of her home.
Myanmar’s junta chief turned president Min Aung Hlaing, who led the coup that removed Suu Kyi from power, has faced sustained international pressure to release political detainees since a recent election. This pressure has included calls from the Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN, which Myanmar is seeking to reengage with after being barred from its summits.
Min Aung Hlaing said last week to Thailand’s foreign minister that Suu Kyi was being “well looked after” and that his government was considering unspecified “good things.”
