Suu Kyi makes first public appearance since coup

Myanmar’s detained democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi met with a Red Cross representative yesterday, the humanitarian group said, her first publicised meeting with a foreign official since she was ousted in a 2021 coup.

The military deposed Suu Kyi in February 2021, jailing the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and triggering an ongoing civil war that has killed more than 100,000 people, according to monitor ACLED.

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The coup leader and former junta chief, Min Aung Hlaing, was installed as civilian president in April following highly restricted elections, which did not include Suu Kyi’s party.

A spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) told AFP that its resident representative to Myanmar, Arnaud de Baecque, visited Suu Kyi yesterday.

The visit included the opportunity to speak with Suu Kyi “in private”, the ICRC said in a statement.

Suu Kyi’s son, Kim Aris, has sought independently verified proof that his mother is alive after she was transferred from prison to house arrest in April following Min Aung Hlaing’s change in position.

Government spokeswoman Khaing Khaing Soe said in a statement that the meeting lasted more than 30 minutes.

Suu Kyi’s health was “stable and in good condition”, she said, the government’s usual description of the politician’s well-being.

Suu Kyi, now 81, was moved to house arrest after Min Aung Hlaing said he had commuted the rest of her sentence.

She was detained on a host of charges that rights groups say were an attempt to sideline her and her party.

A police special branch officer, speaking anonymously, said the meeting took place at an ex-minister’s house in the capital Naypyidaw where Suu Kyi is living under guard.

Authorities have not publicly disclosed the exact location of Suu Kyi’s detention, nor how many years of her sentence remain.