Five days since the 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit the country on March 28, the regime in Naypyidaw has not released any information regarding Myanmar’s most famous political prisoner, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held in Naypyidaw since the Feb. 1, 2021 military coup.
Just two days prior to the earthquake, the Kamayut District Court in Yangon ordered a fourth auction date for her family home at 54 University Avenue set for April 29. The updated auction price was lowered to 270 billion MMK ($60.6 million USD).
The court order came one week after Aung San Suu Kyi’s brother Aung San Oo proposed reducing the auction price to 275 billion MMK ($61.7 million USD). A source close to the court told DVB on the condition of anonymity that Aung San Suu Kyi is not allowed to communicate with her legal team.
Despite this, they filed a revision last year to stop the sale of her home while she’s imprisoned. Aung San Suu Kyi’s legal team has been unable to meet with her at Naypyidaw Prison since December 2022. The court has overruled their request to meet with her to discuss this case numerous times.
“Even though her legal team isn’t allowed to meet with her to discuss the case, they have every right not to remain silent, in accordance with the law,” said Kyee Myint, a veteran lawyer from Myanmar.
The court has set three previous home auction dates over the last year. The first took place on March 20, 2024 with a floor price of 315 billion MMK ($70.7 million USD). The second was held on Aug. 15 with a floor price of 300 billion MMK ($67.4 million USD).
The third auction attempt took place on Feb. 5 with a floor price set at 297 billion MMK ($66.7 USD). Because there have been no bids made on the home over the last three attempts, Aung San Oo has requested price reductions from the court to entice potential buyers.
The famed address at 54 University Avenue in Yangon’s Bahan Township was owned by Khin Kyi, the wife of Myanmar independence hero Aung San and mother of Aung San Suu Kyi and Aung San Oo.
It is also where Aung San Suu Kyi spent 15 years under house arrest imposed by the military until she was freed in 2010 and allowed to take a seat as a member of parliament following her successful election in 2012.
In 2016, the Western Yangon District Court granted Aung San Suu Kyi the two-story home but half of the two-acre property along Inya Lake was to be equally divided with her brother Aung San Oo.
Kim Aris, Aung San Suu Kyi’s son, told DVB that ownership of the property has been debated among his mother and uncle for as long as he can remember.
“[He] had no claim on the property because he’s an American citizen. But the regime will make up their rules as they go along, making life more difficult for my mother. If that property is sold, that will leave her with nothing in Burma because the house she was in Naypyidaw was government property, and any other land that she had has been seized by the military,” said Aris.
Aung San Suu Kyi, who turns 80 on June 19, has been held incommunicado by the regime in Naypyidaw following the 2021 military coup. Aris launched the “Suu 80th birthday campaign” in January to raise international awareness about his mother’s detention over the last four years, along with the 28,960 other political prisoners in Myanmar.
