Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi to move to house arrest days after her sentence was commuted

Myanmar's former leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, is all set to be moved to house arrest, the country's military-controlled media reported on Thursday. Aung San Suu Kyi's sentence was relaxed more than five years after her government was toppled in a coup orchestrated by the junta.

The 80-year-old was detained since the military took power in 2021, while her country has been plunging into conflict and economic turmoil. Since then, very little is known about the conditions in which she has been held.

On Thursday, the military-run MRTV reported that “the remaining portion of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s sentence has been commuted to be served at a designated residence,” using an honorific for the veteran politician. The exact location was not specified.

Her son, Kim Aris, took to social media, insisting that his mother remained a “hostage, cut off from the world”, and asked for verified information that his mother was alive as well as “the ability to communicate with her, and to see her free”.

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Meanwhile, a photograph of the detained former leader dressed in a white blouse and skirt, sitting on a wooden bench alongside two uniformed personnel, was shared by military-controlled TV. The photograph was significant since it was the first public image of her in years.

However, Kim Aris later told the BBC that the image was taken years ago. At the United Nations in New York, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric welcomed “the commutation of Aung San Suu Kyi to a so-called house arrest in a designated residence”, describing it as “a meaningful step towards conditions conducive to a credible political process.”

Dujarric maintained that the only viable political solution in Myanmar “must be based on immediate cessation of violence and a genuine commitment to inclusive dialogue”. In the midst of this, campaigners also accused Myanmar’s military leaders of a cynical PR campaign designed to gain international legitimacy, and of continuing their oppressive rule.

“They use political prisoners who should never have been in jail in the first place as public relations pawns,” said Burma Campaign UK in a statement. “At the same time, the Burmese military is stepping up airstrikes targeting health facilities and civilians.”

Apart from this, Aung San Suu Kyi’s sentence was also reduced by one-sixth on Thursday as part of a wider amnesty of all prisoners in Myanmar’s jails. This would bring her sentence down to 18 years, with more than 13 years left to serve. She was originally sentenced to 33 years in prison.