Aung San Suu Kyi’s son speaks to detained former Myanmar leader for first time in five years

The son of Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi has been allowed to speak to the detained former democratic leader for the first time in more than five years.

“Today, I was finally able to speak with my mother, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, after more than five years. Hearing her voice again means more than words can express,” Kim Aris said in a post on Facebook on Thursday.

Aung San Suu Kyi is under house arrest in the capital, Naypyidaw, according to Myanmar authorities, where she has been sequestered since being unseated in a 2021 military coup.

Images accompanying his Facebook post appeared to show Aris, who lives in the UK standing outside the Myanmar embassy in London.

“I am deeply grateful to everyone who has stood by my mother and me. I believe your voices helped make this moment possible,” the post said. “But my mother is 81 and remains unjustly detained. One conversation is not regular family access.”

Myanmar’s military held Aung San Suu Kyi, won the 1991 Nobel peace prize, in almost total seclusion for five years after the February 2021 coup, which ended a tentative decade-long experiment with democracy. But in recent months authorities have increasingly advertised the loosening of her detention and published photographs of her taking private meetings, as supporters have demanded “proof of life” of the octogenarian.

On Monday, authorities said she received a package from Britain’s King Charles, including two books about soil and a “sealed diplomatic communication” from the monarch. Buckingham Palace did not comment on the contents of the communication.

Myanmar authorities said Aung San Suu Kyi was moved from a prison in Naypyidaw to house arrest in April, and in August they published images of her meeting the nation’s Red Cross representative.

After ruling Myanmar as military chief for five years, Min Aung Hlaing – who ousted Aung San Suu Kyi in the 2021 coup – was earlier this year installed as civilian president.

Analysts described the election that put him in office as a charade, and said he could be loosening restrictions on Aung San Suu Kyi in an attempt to court international legitimacy.