The legal team representing jailed State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi has firmly denied reports that they met with the 80-year-old leader following her recent transfer from Naypyidaw Prison to an undisclosed house arrest location.
Dismissing a Friday report by Reuters that claimed a meeting was scheduled for May 3, an attorney from her four-member legal team told DVB that no such visit took place.
“We haven’t asked [the regime] to meet her after she was moved to house arrest,” the attorney said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
A source close to Naypyidaw Prison confirmed to DVB that while the legal team is permitted to send care packages to Aung San Suu Kyi every Sunday, they have been completely barred from meeting with her in person since 2023.
Pending legal matters
The ongoing isolation leaves crucial legal matters in limbo. Her attorneys stated they urgently need to update her regarding a high-profile legal dispute with her older brother, Aung San Oo.
The dispute centers on the auction of the historic family residence at 54 University Avenue in Yangon’s Bahan Township—the very same property where Aung San Suu Kyi famously spent 15 years under house arrest during previous military regimes.
“A Performative Act”
As her isolation continues, her political allies are warning the international community not to view the house arrest transfer as a sign of leniency.
On May 3, the now-dissolved National League for Democracy (NLD) party released a statement condemning the transfer.
The party argued that moving her from prison to house arrest “does not represent progress toward a positive political path, but merely deception.”
The NLD characterized the move as a “performative act” orchestrated by regime leader Min Aung Hlaing to manufacture political legitimacy on the global stage.
The transfer comes just weeks after Min Aung Hlaing was inaugurated as Myanmar’s president on April 10 by a pro-military parliament following what critics widely condemned as “sham” elections.
Demands for “Proof of Life”
Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained since the military ousted her civilian government in the February 2021 coup. The regime officially disbanded her NLD party in 2023 in an effort to dismantle the democratic opposition.
Her son, Kim Aris, recently escalated his concerns, publicly demanding Min Aung Hlaing provide “proof of life” so that independent observers can verify his mother is still alive and well.
The recent maneuvers around Aung San Suu Kyi follow the April 17 release of ousted President Win Myint, who was freed from Bago Region’s Taungoo Prison during a Myanmar New Year amnesty on April 17.
Despite the sentence reduction and transfer, the international community has called for an immediate and unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners in Myanmar.
