Myanmar’s former leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been placed under house arrest, the country’s military-controlled state media said Thursday.
The 80-year-old state counselor was transferred from Naypyidaw prison to “the designated residence” to serve the remainder of her sentence, state broadcaster MRTV reported without specifying exactly where that residence was located.
State media also showed the first public photo of the former leader in several years. She was at a table with men in military and police uniforms.
Suu Kyi has been in military detention since the February 2021 coup that dissolved Myanmar’s democratically elected parliament and installed a government led by Gen. Min Aung Hlaing.
She was convicted of 19 counts, including corruption, and sentenced to 33 years in prison.
Her whereabouts have been unknown since then, and in April members of civilian groups, including her son Kim Aris, launched a campaign urging the junta to prove she is alive.
In 2023, Aung San Suu Kyi’s sentence was reduced to 27 years, and then by a sixth during Myanmar’s New Year amnesty this year, to 22 years and six months.
Having already served more than five years since the coup, he has 18 years and nine months remaining.
Sources close to the military told Radio Free Asia that Suu Kyi had been moved to a vice-minister-level residence and that a team led by Lt. Col. Tin Aung Tun had been in charge of security since March.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Thursday that Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi was a long-time friend of China and that China was constantly monitoring her situation.
Edited by Eugene Whong.