Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi has been moved from prison to house arrest in Myanmar. The military junta said she and other prisoners were at risk of heat stroke in the detention center.
In Myanmar, the former de facto head of government and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been moved from prison to house arrest, according to the military government. This was done to avoid heat stroke, said military government spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun.
For this reason, other older prisoners were also transferred from prison to house arrest. “The extreme heat does not only affect Aung San Suu Kyi. We are working to protect everyone who needs to take the necessary precautions, especially the older prisoners, from heat stroke.”
Suu Kyi is 78 years old and has been in custody since the military coup over three years ago.
Civil war-like Conditions in Myanmar
Conditions similar to civil war have been prevailing in Myanmar for a long time. The army is fighting on multiple fronts against a loose alliance of insurgents. Some Western countries have accused the military of atrocities, which it denies.
At the end of January, the army extended the state of emergency for another six months. The military in the Southeast Asian country staged a coup on February 1, 2021 under the leadership of Min Aung Hlaing and overthrew the democratically elected government. Thousands of people were arrested at the time and hundreds were killed by security forces.
Suu Kyi condemned several times
Myanmar’s army justified the ouster of the government by alleging fraud in the November 2020 parliamentary election, in which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party won a landslide victory. Suu Kyi, like other leading politicians, was imprisoned at the time. In several proceedings she was convicted of, among other things, high treason, bribery and violations of the Telecommunications Act. The prison sentence totaled 33 years.
Suu Kyi was pardoned on some counts and her prison sentence was reduced to 27 years. She denies the allegations.
The military has long justified its claim to a central role in politics by saying that only it is able to hold the country with its 53 million inhabitants and its numerous ethnic minorities together.