The jail sentence of Myanmar’s imprisoned ex-leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been reduced. It comes as thousands of prisoners are released, including the country’s former president, Win Myint. The U.N. has called for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and others “detained unjustly” since the 2021 coup.
The prison sentence of Myanmar’s imprisoned leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been reduced as her ally, former president Win Myint, is released from jail as part of a mass amnesty.
Aung San Suu Kyi was serving a 27-year sentence for a range of politically-motivated offences ranging from incitement and corruption to election fraud and violating a state secrets law.
But, as part of a widespread pardon, the 80-year-old’s sentence has been cut by at least four years.
It is not clear whether the Nobel Peace Prize winner will be allowed to serve the rest of her sentence under house arrest or when she may be eligible for release.
Aung San Suu Kyi has not been seen in public since her trial ended and her whereabouts is unknown.
All people in Myanmar serving a jail term under 40 years had their sentence reduced by one-sixth on Friday – in a move ordered by the country’s coup leader Min Aung Hlaing, who was inaugurated as president by a pro-military parliament on April 10.
He also ordered the release of more than 4,500 prisoners including Suu Kyi’s ally, Win Myint, who served as Myanmar’s president from 2018 until the 2021 military coup.
Win Myint was “granted a pardon and the reduction of his remaining sentences under specified conditions”, Myanmar’s state broadcaster MRTV reported.
While Win Myint occupied the top spot, it functioned as a ceremonial role because Aung San Suu Kyi was barred from holding the presidency under a military-drafted constitution.
The 2021 coup plunged the southeast Asian country into civil war.
U.N. rights chief Volker Türk was relieved by the “long overdue release” of Win Myint but called for the immedate release of Suu Kyi.
“All those detained unjustly since the coup — including state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi — need to be released immediately and unconditionally,” he said on X.
“There must be an end to the unrelenting violence against all of Myanmar’s people.”
Amnesties typically take place in Myanmar each year to mark Independence Day in January and New Year in April.
2025 deadliest year for Rohingya refugees
While Suu Kyi remains a wildly popular figure, her reputation did suffer when she defended Myanmar’s militiary at the International Court of Justice against allegations of ethnic cleansing towards Rohingya people.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people have fled war-torn Myanmar for Bangladesh and other countries.
New figures released by the United Nations showed last year was the deadliest on record for Rohingya refugees fleeing by sea, with deaths continuing to soar in 2026.
“In 2025, nearly 900 Rohingya refugees were reported missing or dead in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal,” the United Nations refugee agency’s spokesman Babar Baloch said.
Baloch added that equated to one in seven Rohingya people trying to take the journey ending up missing or dead which was “the highest mortality rate worldwide of any major route for refugee and migrant sea journeys”.
Rohingya people mainly leave from huge camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar where more than one million refugees have fled to from war-torn Myanmar.
The UN estimated 200,000 Rohingya refugees had taken that dangerous sea crossing since 2012.
ABC
