YANGON (Myanmar): Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved to a prison and is being kept in solitary confinement, according to a junta spokesperson on Thursday.
“By the law, it’s confirmed that (Suu Kyi) has been moved to the prison. And she’s been kept at separate confinement well,” Major General Zaw Min Tun said in a statement cited by CNN.
On February 1 last year, Myanmar’s military overthrew the government and declared a year-long state of emergency hours before the newly-elected Parliament was due to convene.
Since the military seized power in a coup in 2021, Suu Kyi has been kept under house arrest at an undisclosed location in the purpose-built capital Naypyidaw. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has been charged with at least 20 criminal offences that carry potential combined maximum jail terms of more than 100 years, as per CNN.
Myanmar later extended the state of emergency in the country for six more months, just ahead of the one-year anniversary of the military coup. Citing National Defense and Security Council, Xinhua News Agency reported that Myanmar’s junta formally extended the state of emergency until July 31.
Myanmar’s military leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a coup against an elected civilian government in 2021 and detained Aung San Suu Kyi over alleged election irregularities. In August last year, Min Aung Hlaing declared himself Prime Minister of a newly formed caretaker government. During an address to the nation on August 1, he repeated a pledge to hold elections by 2023.
More than 1,000 civilians have been killed by Myanmar security forces with thousands of others arrested, according to the United Nations, amid a crackdown on strikes and protests which has derailed the country’s tentative democracy and prompted international condemnation.
In a recent update, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said the conflict has intensified over the past month, with increased reports of army raids across Myanmar, especially in the northwest and southeast regions. (ANI)