YANGON: Activists in Myanmar have launched an international campaign to demand proof from the country's military junta that Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is still alive following a mass release of prisoners last week.
The campaign is called "Proof of Life" and has received broad support on the internet.
It was set up by the All in One Piece human rights groups and enjoys the support of her son, Kim Aris, who has for months been calling in public for the junta to provide information on his mother's condition.
Aung San Suu Kyi, 80, was detained following the February 2021 coup that brought the junta to power. She was subsequently sentenced to a lengthy prison term.
She previously spent 15 years under house arrest in her villa in Yangon, becoming known worldwide for her non-violent opposition to the junta and earning the Nobel prize in 1991.
She later became Myanmar's de facto leader from 2016 to 2021, facing criticism for the military's massacres of the Rohingya minority, before she was deposed.
Her son recently told the Democratic Voice of Burma news website that while many believed she was being held under house arrest, she has in fact been in prison for the entire time.
In September, he made a public appeal by video in which he reported that his mother was suffering from a worsening heart condition.
He described the junta's conduct as "cruel, life-threatening and unacceptable."
Last week, authorities released thousands of prisoners, including former president Win Myint.
The release sparked speculation that Aung San Suu Kyi would also be freed, but instead her prison term was reduced by a few years. - dpa
