Son of Aung Sang Suu Kyi is worried about her health in detention and about Myanmar’s violent crisis

The younger son of ousted Myanmar leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi has said he’s increasingly worried about his imprisoned 78-year-old mother’s health and about Myanmar’s violent political crisis, which he calls “desperate.”

The younger son of ousted Myanmar leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi has said he’s increasingly worried about his imprisoned 78-year-old mother’s health and about Myanmar’s violent political crisis, which he calls “desperate.”

“I’d just really like to have some form of contact with her so that I know that she’ OK, because at the moment she has no access to her legal counsel,” Kim Aris said on September 13 in a video interview with The Associated Press from his home in London.

Explained | The legal battles of Aung San Suu Kyi since the 2021 coup in Myanmar

“She has no access to her personal doctors. She’s not allowed any visitors, as far as I'm aware. She’s not even allowed to mingle with the other prisoners, which means she’s basically under a form of solitary confinement.” Ms. Suu Kyi was arrested in 2021 when the Army seized power from her democratically elected government. She has since been prosecuted and convicted on more than a dozen charges for offenses her supporters say were concocted to keep her out of politics. She is serving a prison term of 27 years.

The military takeover triggered massive public resistance that was brutally suppressed, triggering a bloody civil war that has killed thousands of people.

Mr. Aris, 46, said he has tried to keep out of the spotlight for decades, seeking to avoid any political activism and “just trying to keep my head down and get on with my family life.” “I’ve always tried to avoid speaking to the media and (have been) avoiding social media all my life. But the situation in Burma at the moment is absolutely desperate,” he said, referring to Myanmar by its former name. “The fact that I’ve not been allowed to communicate with my mother at all for over two and a half years now” is another reason he is speaking out,” he said.