The son of Aung San Suu Kyi said he spoke to the detained former democratic leader for the first time in more than five years.
“Today, I was finally able to speak with my mother, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, after more than five years. Hearing her voice again means more than words can express,” Kim Aris said in a post on Facebook yesterday.
Suu Kyi is under house arrest in the capital, Naypyidaw, according to authorities, where she has been sequestered since being unseated in a 2021 military coup.
Aris posted images accompanying his Facebook post which appeared to show him standing outside the Myanmar embassy in London.
“I am deeply grateful to everyone who has stood by my mother and me. I believe your voices helped make this moment possible,” Aris wrote.
“But my mother is 81 and remains unjustly detained. One conversation is not regular family access.”
Myanmar’s military held Suu Kyi in almost total seclusion for five years following the February 2021 coup, which ended a tentative decade-long experiment with democracy.
But in recent months, authorities have increasingly advertised the loosening of her detention and published photographs of her taking private meetings, as supporters have demanded “proof of life” of the octogenarian.
After ruling Myanmar as military chief for five years, Min Aung Hlaing – who ousted Suu Kyi in the 2021 coup – was earlier this year installed as civilian president.
Analysts describe the election putting him in elected office as a charade and say he may be loosening restrictions on Suu Kyi in a bid to court international legitimacy. — AFP
