Burmese oppositionist Aung San Suu Kyi transferred from prison to house arrest

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved from a prison cell to house arrest, an army source told AFP on April 17.

The source, who asked to remain anonymous, added that former president Win Myint also benefited from this measure.

However, it is not clear at the moment whether the measure is only temporary.

On April 17, the military junta in power since the February 1, 2021 coup also announced an amnesty for 3,300 prisoners to mark the Burmese New Year.

Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said it was the country’s ongoing heatwave that pushed authorities to take measures to protect the most vulnerable detainees.

Aung San Suu Kyi, 78 years old, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1991 and de facto leader of the country at the time of the coup, is serving a twenty-seven year sentence for a series of convictions ranging from corruption to violation of restrictions related to covid-19 pandemic.

In February her son Kim Aris told AFP that she was still being held in a prison complex in the capital Naypyidaw.

At the time of the previous military junta, Aung San Suu Kyi spent many years under house arrest in Yangon, becoming a global icon of the struggle for democracy.

Aung San Suu Kyi is still very popular in Burma, although her international image was tarnished, before the 2021 coup, by her power-sharing deal with the generals and her failure to defend the persecuted Rohingya minority .

According to a local NGO that provides assistance to political prisoners, the repression following the coup has caused the deaths of more than 4,800 civilians.