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Myanmar's Suu Kyi is under House Arrest

Aung San Suu Kyi, the imprisoned leader known for her relentless fight for democracy in Myanmar, has been moved from prison to house arrest, according to a military official's statement on Wednesday.

The military junta also mentioned in an announcement that the friend who was imprisoned with her was down with the symptoms of the heat wave disease.

 

Suu Kyi is a prominent figure in the former ruling party, aged 78 and a recipient of the Nobel Laureate for Peace.

The convictions against her are numerous and range from corruption charges to violations of COVID-19 regulations.

 

Since then, Suu Kyi has been largely unavailable for view as she was detained on February 1, 2021, which was the date the military regained power and it is speculated that she has health problems.

 

Then Zaw Min Tun, a spokesman for the Junta, said that it was due to the run of hot weather which resulted in the prison authorities placing the detainees affected by vulnerability under their best care.

 

Not only to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and U Win Myint but also the old prisoners were given enough care due to the extreme heat this season, stated Zaw Min Tun.

 

Currently, the temperature in Naypyidaw, where Suu Kyi is alleged to be imprisoned in an especially-built compound, is expected to rise to 41 C (105.8 F) on Wednesday with even hotter weather forecast for the next week.

 

The junta also announced on Wednesday that 3,300 prisoners will be permitted to go free as part of the routine pardon given to commemorate the New Year festival.

 

Now at the gates of Yangon's Insein Prison, congregated in a crowd of roughly 200 to 300 family members and friends, waiting to receive prisoners as they are taken out of the place in buses.

 

Health Issues

 

It was not at all clear whether she would be out of her house and thus out of detention house arrest beyond the heat wave, or whether this was an official indicator of her reduced sentence.

 

In February 2021 when AFP asked Aris Kim - her son - she said that she was still confined in the Naypyidaw Special Compound.

 

Suu Kyi's live house as she refused to air conditioners in the blistering heat and the cell concrete leaked during the monsoon as told by Sean Turnell who is the Adviser on national economy serving under Suu Kyi’s government and was the detainee there for months.

 

Suu Kyi was locked up in her family’s large and fancy lakeside mansion in the commercial capital Yangon - designed and built by a colonial government in the 1950s - for 15 years, following which her fame skyrocketed due to her taking part in huge demonstrations condemning the then military junta.

 

On Wednesday, the freed prisoners 13 from Indonesia and 15 from Sri Lanka will be deported legally, as per the junta announcement.