Impending heat stroke

Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi transferred to house arrest

Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi (78)

(Bild: AP)

In Myanmar, the former de facto head of government and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi (78), has been transferred from prison to house arrest, according to the internationally largely isolated military junta. This was done to avoid heatstroke.

Other older prisoners had also been transferred from prison to house arrest for the same reason.

"The extreme heat is not only affecting Aung San Suu Kyi. We are working to protect all those who need to take the necessary precautions, especially the elderly prisoners, from heatstroke," said military government spokesman Min Tun. Suu Kyi has been in custody since the military coup more than three years ago.

Army vs. alliance

Civil war-like conditions have prevailed in Myanmar for some time. The army is fighting on several fronts against a loose alliance of insurgents, with some Western countries accusing the military of atrocities. At the end of January, the army extended the state of emergency by a further six months.

The military in the Southeast Asian country seized power on February 1, 2021 under the leadership of General Min Aung Hlaing and overthrew the democratically elected government. Thousands of people were arrested at the time and hundreds were killed by security forces.

Myanmar's army justified the dismissal of the government with suspected falsification in the parliamentary elections in November 2020, in which the National League for Democracy (NLD) under Suu Kyi had won an overwhelming victory. Suu Kyi was imprisoned at the time, as were other leading politicians.