‘Furnish proof she is alive’: Aung San Suu Kyi’s son challenges Myanmar junta over house arrest claims

LONDON: The younger son of Myanmar’s incarcerated pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has demanded the country’s military-led government to furnish concrete proof that she is alive, casting severe doubt on junta claims made in April that her sentence was commuted to around 17 years alongside a transfer to house arrest.

Expressing deep scepticism during an interview with Kyodo News this week in London, where he resides, Kim Aris stated that he believes his octogenarian mother remains confined within a prison facility in the capital, Naypyitaw, rather than a residential setting. He pointed out that there hasn’t been “any evidence” of such a relocation.

“The only news that we hear about her health is that it’s getting worse,” he revealed, while disclosing that the environment within the Myanmar facility where she may still be locked up was “pretty horrendous”, drawing on accounts he obtained from a former inmate who was held there.

Detailing her medical state, Aris specified that Suu Kyi is currently suffering from a heart condition, as well as age-related health issues, including osteoporosis. The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner has been held in detention since a February 2021 military coup ousted the democratically elected administration in which she operated as the de facto leader.

In an interview with Kyodo News, Kim Aris said he believes his octogenarian mother has not been moved to house arrest and is still in prison in the capital Naypyidaw, saying there hasn’t been “any evidence” of a transfer. Read more https://t.co/G2aA5mT8Ez #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar

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Highlighting his total isolation from his mother, Aris shared in his conversation with Kyodo News that his last direct contact with her was a letter he received over two years ago. Born and raised in London, the 48-year-old lived with both of his parents until his mother departed when he was approximately 11 years old to care for her ailing mother in Myanmar, a trip that ultimately sparked her pivotal involvement in the nation’s pro-democracy struggle.

While spearheading the resistance against the military-ruled regime, Suu Kyi endured multiple periods of house arrest between 1989 and 2010, totalling roughly 15 years of isolation. Throughout her extensive absence, Aris was brought up in the United Kingdom by his father, a British academic.

Suu Kyi ascended to the role of the country’s de facto leader in 2016 after her party, the National League for Democracy, secured a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections the previous year, before she was eventually deposed and arrested in the 2021 coup.

This sudden political upheaval instilled a profound sense of duty in Aris to advocate on her behalf. “I’d rather not be a public figure, but in this case I need to stand up for my mother,” he explained during the Kyodo News interview.

In a creative bid to highlight her ongoing plight, he recently completed an arduous 81-kilometre skateboard marathon to mark Suu Kyi’s 81st birthday in June and to elevate global awareness surrounding her continued imprisonment.

Aris, who has been travelling across various nations, including a diplomatic campaign stop in Japan in December to lobby for his mother’s freedom, strongly urged international governments to sustain heavy pressure on Myanmar’s military hierarchy.

As the devastating civil war between the junta forces and pro-democracy factions rages on, Aris also used his platform with Kyodo News to call for a coordinated global crackdown to choke off fuel supplies to the military administration to halt its relentless aerial bombardments. “Stopping the military getting access to aviation fuel, that’s the main thing,” he emphasised. (ANI)