Burmese junta releases Aung San Suu Kyi from prison ahead of possible house arrest

The Burmese Army has released Aung San Suu Kyi, detained since the coup in February 2021, from prison and has relocated her to a government building, sources close to the former leader have confirmed.

According to these sources, who request anonymity, Suu Kyi was “rehoused” on an unconfirmed date in a building controlled by the military regime whose location is unknown, after being isolated in a prison in the capital, Naypyidaw.

This week, sources close to the case confirmed that the junta plans to transfer Suu Kyi, the former leader deposed by the military after the coup on February 1, 2021, to house arrest in Rangoon, Myanmar.

Suu Kyi, who has only been seen once after the coup and has been sentenced to up to 33 years in prison since then, already spent 15 years under house arrest in a residence in Rangoon, until her release in 2012, during the period mandate of the previous military junta (1962-2011).

The current military regime, led by Min Aung Hlaing, has not confirmed the change, news anticipated by the Burmese service of the BBC.

The coup, which toppled the government headed by Suu Kyi and ended a decade of democratic transition, has plunged Burma (Myanmar) into a deep political, social and economic crisis and has launched a spiral of violence that has exacerbated the war of guerrillas that the country has lived through for decades.

The Army justifies the coup for alleged fraud during the November 2020 general elections, the result of which has been annulled and in which Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) swept, as it already did in 2015, with the endorsement of international observers.

The current changes in Suu Kyi's situation coincide with a visit to Naypyidaw by China's special envoy for Burma, Deng Xijun, when Beijing has increased its influence and mediation in the Burmese crisis.

Coinciding with the visit to Burma last March by former Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who called for “a process of political transition” during a meeting with Min Aung Hlaing, the junta announced an amnesty for 2,153 dissidents.

It is also expected that the board will announce imminently whether or not to extend the state of emergency, about to expire after being extended for six months on February 1, two years after the riot, generating uncertainty as to whether they will still be held. elections this year, as planned.