Suu Kyi detention emblem of junta repression, says exiled political opposition

Myanmar's National Unity Government hopes Independent TV documentary on ousted leader 'will wake up' the world

- SHWETA SHARMA

The release of Aung San Suu Kyi and around 20,000 fellow political prisoners will be the most crucial step towards ending the conflict in Myanmar, the country’s government-in-exile has said.

The National Unity Government, or NUG, which comprises former politicians from various parties and is leading the political opposition to the military junta that seized power in a 2021 coup, has raised concerns about Ms Suu Kyi’s health.

“Aung San Suu Kyi is arbitrarily detained. She is in isolation and it is inhumane for a 79-year-old lady who has sacrificed so much for her country,” Kyaw Zaw, a spokesperson for NUG, said.

He was responding to the documentary, Cancelled: The Rise and Fall of Aung San Suu Kyi, released by Independent TV. The film charts the political journey of Myanmar’s former leader, who was thrust into the political spotlight in the 1980s and spent many years in jail for advocating for democratic rule in the country.

Mr Zaw said the military junta’s rule has led to an “unprecedented humanitarian crisis” in northern Rakhine State where intense fighting between the army and an ethnic rebel group has reportedly displaced millions of people.

Ms Suu Kyi, who was given the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, has been detained, probably in solitary confinement, since the coup overthrew her democratically elected government in February 2021 and plunged the country into crisis.

She was arrested by the military along with top members of her National League for Democracy party, including president Myint Swe, sparking widespread protests, civil disobedience, and armed resistance across the country.