Aung San Suu Kyi sounds strong but remains isolated, son says
Aung San Suu Kyi sounded mentally alert and physically strong during her first conversation with her son in more than five years, but appears to remain almost entirely isolated. Kim Aris, who spoke to his 81-year-old mother at Myanmar’s embassy in London, said she seems to have contact only with military or police personnel and no access to newspapers, radio or television. Her precise location is still undisclosed, though he believes she is being held at a fenced-off residence in Naypyidaw.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained since the military overthrew her government in the 2021 coup and convicted her on charges Aris described as politically motivated. He welcomed the call but viewed it, along with recent official photographs and the delivery of gardening books from King Charles, as a public-relations effort by the military leadership. Activists have repeatedly demanded evidence that she and other political prisoners are alive and being treated properly.
Her former global standing was severely damaged by her response to the 2016–2017 killings and expulsions of Rohingya Muslims, including her defence of Myanmar at the international court of justice. Aris argued that she had operated under constant military pressure and said the backlash had contributed to declining international attention not only for his mother but for Myanmar as a whole. The country has been engulfed in civil war since the coup, with conflict monitors estimating more than 100,000 deaths.
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