GENEVA (AFP): UN rights chief Volker Turk called for the immediate and unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi after the jailed Myanmar democracy icon had her sentence reduced on Friday.
The military has ruled Myanmar by force for almost all of its post-independence history, before a decade-long democratic experiment gave civilian politicians tentative control.
The generals took back power in a 2021 coup deposing the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, now 80, detaining the democratic figurehead and plunging the country into civil war.
"All those detained unjustly since the coup -- including state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi -- need to be released immediately and unconditionally," he said on X.
"There must be an end to the unrelenting violence against all of Myanmar's people."
Aung San Suu Kyi had her sentence reduced on Friday as part of a mass amnesty, a source close to her legal case told AFP.
Myanmar's former president Win Myint, also detained since the coup, was also pardoned of his convictions during the post-putsch period of military rule, a statement said.
Turk said he was relieved by the "long overdue release" of Win Myint and other prisoners from arbitrary detention, as well as the commutation of death sentences.
Win Myint served as president starting in 2018, with Myanmar in the midst of its experiment with civilian government that was abruptly halted by the coup.
While he occupied the top spot, it functioned as a ceremonial role following the lead of de facto government head Aung San Suu Kyi, who was barred from holding the presidency under a military-drafted constitution.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate remains detained, serving a 27-year sentence rights groups decry as a politically motivated move to hobble her National League for Democracy party. -- AFP
