YANGON (Kyodo) — Myanmar’s ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi turned 80 Thursday, more than four years after she was jailed following a military coup and as the country faces an intensifying civil war.
The democracy icon has been imprisoned in the capital Naypyitaw, with her exact health status and location remaining largely unknown, according to local and overseas media reports.
British newspaper The Guardian released Wednesday rare video footage of Suu Kyi and deposed President Win Myint at trial hearings dated Aug. 22 and Dec. 12, 2022.
Suu Kyi, wearing a white jacket and a long Longyi skirt with a face mask on, and Win Myint were seated in a courtroom and then stood up, possibly at the end of the session. A policewoman and a policeman were seen guarding them.
By the end of 2022, Suu Kyi had been sentenced to 33 years in prison on a total of 19 charges, including corruption and election fraud, that her supporters and many international observers deem politically motivated. Although the sentence was later reduced to 27 years, it essentially remains a life sentence.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has spent approximately a quarter of her life under various forms of detention, including during the previous period of military rule until 2011. Suu Kyi’s sons have not been able to visit her, and she is cut off from outside contact.
Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun told reporters in March that Suu Kyi was in good health, saying “special medical teams formed with health officials from the military and the Health Ministry are conducting regular check-ups for her.”
But according to the Guardian report, Aung Kyaw, a doctor and former political prisoner jailed for treating anti-coup protesters, described her care as “rudimentary and basic.”
He was quoted as saying that poor nutrition, lack of sunlight and the risk of dehydration and heatstroke during summer could worsen her health. The records show that on at least one day the temperature in her room reached 31 C.
“The health implications of keeping someone who’s almost 80 in a confined space and isolation, and cutting her connection with family and friends, can have a very heavy toll on her physical and mental health,” Aung Kyaw was quoted as saying.
Myanmar faces an intensifying civil war, with the junta placing the country under a state of emergency following the Feb. 1, 2021 coup and cracking down on resistance from pro-democracy forces and ethnic minority rebels.
