Myanmar: Former leader Aung San Suu Kyi transferred to ‘state-owned residence’
Jul 29, 2023
Naypyidaw [Myanmar], July 29 : Myanmar’s junta has relocated former leader Aung San Suu Kyi from a prison in the capital Naypyidaw to “a more comfortable state-owned residence,” a party official and a source with ties to the prison was cited by a report in Radio Free Asia (RFA).
Radio Free Asia is a United States government-funded private non-profit news service.
An NLD official who declined to be named due to security concerns told RFA Burmese: “It has been confirmed that Aung San Suu Kyi has been placed in a house in a residential area of Naypyidaw.”
A source with connections to Naypyidaw Prison, where the jailed head of the deposed National League for Democracy Suu Kyi had been held since the military seized power in a February 1, 2021 coup d’etat, also confirmed that the former State Counselor had been “relocated".
Both sources could only confirm that the move had taken place “recently,” but were unable to confirm the exact date or location.
Media reports said Suu Kyi had been transferred to a residence for deputy ministers in the capital on July 24. Attempts by RFA to contact junta Deputy Information Minister Major General Zaw Min Tun for comment went unanswered on Friday.
The 78-year-old Suu Kyi who was found guilty by junta courts of corruption charges and violation of election and state secrets laws, faces a total of 33 years in jail for 19 cases and had been held in solitary confinement in Naypyidaw. Suu Kyi’s supporters say the charges were politically motivated.
A second NLD official suggested to RFA on Friday that the transfer may have been made in response to increased domestic and international pressure on the junta to end Myanmar’s political stalemate.
“The junta has let the world know through this transfer that it is also facing difficulties in resolving the turmoil in Myanmar,” the official said, as per RFA.
Myanmar’s junta has been involved in a prolonged conflict with Myanmar’s increasingly formidable armed resistance groups and ethnic armed organizations since the military detained Suu Kyi and other top leaders of the NLD during the coup.
