Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi moved to house arrest amid heatwave

Military also pardons 3,000 prisoners to mark this year’s traditional New Year holiday.

Myanmar’s jailed former leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved from prison to house arrest as a health measure amid a severe heatwave, the military has said.

Major General Zaw Min Tun told foreign media on Tuesday that Aung San Suu Kyi and the president of her toppled government, Win Myint, were among the elderly and infirm prisoners transferred from prison.

“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,” he was quoted as saying.

Aung San Suu Kyi, 78, has been imprisoned by the Myanmar military since it overthrew her government in a coup in 2021.

She has been serving a 27-year prison term in Naypyidaw on a variety of criminal convictions that her supporters and rights groups say were fabricated for political reasons. Win Myint was serving an eight-year prison sentence in Taungoo in Myanmar’s Bago Region.

Myanmar’s meteorological department said Naypyidaw saw temperatures of 39 degrees Celsius (102.2 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday.