Myanmar Leader Aung San Suu Kyi Moved To House Arrest Due To Heatwave

Aung San Suu Kyi has been in detention since a military coup in 2021.

Myanmar’s former leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved from prison to house arrest as a health measure amid severe heatwave, The Guardian said in a report. It quoted a spokesperson of the military junta as saying that it was trying to prevent heatstroke among “all those who need necessary precautions, especially elderly prisoners”. The outlet said both Suu Kyi and president U Win Myint, 72, have been moved from prison. However, it is not clear where they have been taken.

Win Myint is serving an eight-year prison sentence in Taungoo in Myanmar’s Bago Region.

Al-Jazeera quoted Myanmar’s meteorological department as saying that capital Naypyidaw saw temperatures of 39 degrees Celsius on Tuesday.

United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has previously called for her release, and the cases have been criticised by human rights experts.

In September last year, Aung San Suu Kyi’s son Kim Aris said she had such serious gum disease that she was struggling to eat.

“Nobody outside the prison has seen her for a long time. Now, being unable to eat puts her life at risk. Given how many people lose their lives in prison in Burma (Myanmar’s former name), this is of grave concern,” he told The Guardian. Mr Aris said her lawyers had not been able to meet with her.

Nobel laureate Suu Kyi is serving 27 years in detention at an undisclosed location for a multitude of offences her supporters say are fabricated. Both the leaders have been held since military seized power in a coup in February 2021.

The coup triggered a huge outpouring of public opposition, which the military attempted to crush with force, unleashing a spiralling conflict that has left more than 4,800 civilians dead.

The army is now struggling to maintain its grip on the country in the face of resistance from civilian anti-junta fighters and long-established ethnic minority armed groups.