Bangkok, Oct 22. (dpa/GNA) – Myanmar’s jailed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has spoken to her son for the first time in more than five years.
Kim Aris, Suu Kyi’s 49-year-old son, wrote on Facebook on Thursday that hearing his mother’s voice again meant “more than words can express.” He demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the 81-year-old former de facto leader and all political prisoners in Myanmar.
Suu Kyi has been under arrest since a military coup in February 2021, which overthrew the country’s democratically elected government.
She was later sentenced to a long prison term and has been largely cut off from the outside world.
There has been repeated concern about her health, including reports of heart problems.
At the end of April, she was moved from prison to house arrest. Her exact whereabouts remain unknown to the public.
Aris thanked everyone who had campaigned for him and his mother. “I believe your voices helped make this moment possible,” he stressed, adding that people should keep speaking out until his mother was free.
However, Aris warned against interpreting the renewed contact as a sign of fundamental change. “A conversation does not mean regular access to the family. Access to the family does not mean freedom,” he wrote.
The message comes a few days after an unusual gesture by Britain’s King Charles III. According to Myanmar’s government, led by military ruler Min Aung Hlaing, Suu Kyi was handed two books from the king, a sealed letter and diplomatic correspondence on Monday. The developments suggest that the military leadership could be allowing limited contact with the prominent prisoner. However, it remains open whether this will lead to regular exchanges with her family.
Earlier this year, her son had publicly complained that he had not received reliable information about her situation for years.
In early August, a representative from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was finally able to visit Suu Kyi. It was the first publicly known contact with an independent international humanitarian actor since her arrest.
For decades, Suu Kyi was Myanmar’s best-known opposition politician. In 1991, she received the Nobel Peace Prize for her nonviolent struggle for democracy.
From 1989 to 2010, she spent a total of 15 years under house arrest, in isolation. She served as the country’s de facto leader from 2016 to 2021, before being deposed by the military, and remains very popular in her homeland to this day.
Since the coup of 2021, Myanmar has been in a severe crisis. Violence, economic decline and resistance to the military rule shape the country.
After an internationally highly disputed election, army chief Min Aung Hlaing was declared president by parliament in April.
GNA