Aung San Suu Kyi’s son, Kim Aris, said on Thursday that his mother was being used as a “human shield” after a Myanmar military regime spokesperson said that she had been moved from prison to house arrest.
Myanmar’s State Counsellor and Nobel laureate was reportedly moved on Wednesday due to the extreme heat conditions inside her prison cell in the capital Naypyidaw.
“Since the weather is extremely hot, it is not only for Aung San Suu Kyi…For all those, who need necessary precautions, especially elderly prisoners, we are working to protect them from heatstroke,” Zaw Min Tun told regime media on Tuesday.
It was not immediately clear where Aung San Suu Kyi, or President Win Myint, had been moved. Zaw Min Tun did not respond to an interview request from Reuters.
Aung Thu Nyeen, the ISP Myanmar director, told DVB that the Prisons Department have constructed a private residence for the two jailed leaders.
“I think their reasons for moving her, well, they stated that it’s for her health, but I think that’s not very likely,” said Aris. “I think they have their own reasons for moving her, namely that they’d like to use her as a human shield.”
Aung San Suu Kyi was held under house arrest for a total of 15 years under a previous regime at her family residence, which is located at 54 University Avenue in Yangon, where she famously gave speeches to crowds of supporters gathered on the other side of the front gate.
The 78-year-old has been detained by the Myanmar military since it overthrew her National League for Democracy (NLD) government on Feb. 1, 2021. She faces 27 years in prison for crimes ranging from treason and bribery to violations of the telecommunications law, charges she denies.
Simmering anger against the military over its 2021 coup turned into a nationwide armed resistance movement now increasingly operating in co-ordination with established Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs) to resist the regime in Naypyidaw.
REUTERS