The son of deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi (pic) has demanded France’s help in seeking independently verified proof of his mother’s life after she was transferred to house arrest, her lawyers said.
The country’s junta chief- turned-president Min Aung Hlaing ordered the 80-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner to be moved last Thursday, five years after putting her into detention in a coup.
But Kim Aris said he has still not heard from his mother, who remains massively popular inside Myanmar.
“I implore France to join my call so that we may obtain independently verified proof of life, and so that her fundamental rights are guaranteed: appropriate medical care, access to her lawyers and to her family,” he wrote in a letter addressed to French President Emmanuel Macron.
Suu Kyi’s lawyer, Francois Zimeray, said Aris handed the letter to France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot at a meeting on Tuesday.
“We have had no proof of life, no photos for years, not even any indication that she was actually transferred. We still don’t know where she is,” he said.
The office of Hlaing last Thursday shared an undated photograph appearing to show Suu Kyi sitting flanked by two men in uniform.
“But we don’t know if it’s real or if it’s AI,” Zimeray said.
Lawyer Catalina de la Sota, also representing Suu Kyi, added, “We cannot imagine that she is no longer alive, but why is she being kept in total secrecy, in violation of all international conventions? We are worried about her health.”
Hlaing toppled Suu Kyi’s elected government in 2021, detaining her on a host of charges which rights groups say were confected to sideline her.
The ensuing civil war has killed thousands and displaced millions in the South-East Asian country of roughly 50 million. — AFP
