The Burmese junta has said that detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi is “in good health,” a day after her son said he has received little information about the 80-year-old’s condition and fears she could die without him knowing.
In an interview in Tokyo earlier this week, Kim Aris said he had not heard from his mother in years and believes she is being held incommunicado in the capital, Naypyidaw.
Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was detained after a 2021 military coup that ousted her elected civilian government and sparked a civil war. She is serving a 27-year sentence on charges including incitement, corruption and election fraud — all of which she denies.
Photo: Reuters
“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is in good health,” a statement posted on junta-run Myanmar Digital News said on Tuesday, using an honorific for the former leader.
The statement offered no evidence or details about her condition.
“The military claims she is in good health, yet they refuse to provide any independent proof, no recent photograph, no medical verification, and no access by family, doctors, or international observers. If she is truly well, they can prove it,” Aris said yesterday in response to the statement.
A junta spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment.
In the interview earlier this week, Aris had said he hopes an upcoming multiphase election in Myanmar, starting on Dec. 28, might offer an opportunity for the military to release Aung San Suu Kyi or move her to house arrest.
Myanmar’s military has a history of releasing prisoners to mark holidays or important events. Aung San Suu Kyi was freed in 2010 days after an election, ending a previous long period of detention.
Aris has joined a chorus of critics, including several foreign governments, dismissing the polls as a sham aimed at legitimizing military rule.
The junta accused Aris of trying to disrupt the election — the first general poll since 2020, when the military accused Aung San Suu Kyi of committing fraud.
Aris said he had no intention to interfere in the country’s politics.
“My concern is growing because my mother has been hidden for so long that I now have to ask the most painful question: Is she still alive?” he said.
Meanwhile, the junta yesterday said 229 people were being pursued for prosecution under legislation passed in July to protect the upcoming election from “obstruction, disruption and destruction.”
The law includes clauses forbidding criticism or protest against the vote, and outlining severe punishments.
Additional reporting by AFP
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