Global calls for the release of all political prisoners by Myanmar’s military junta are growing after deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi was moved to prison from a home.
“We call on the military regime immediately to end the use of violence, free all political prisoners and those arbitrarily detained and return the country to a democratic path,” said G7 leaders on June.27.
The military junta said Suu Kyi was moved from a home in an undisclosed location to a prison in the remote capital city Naypyitaw on June 22.
The Nobel peace laureate, who turns 77 this year, is being held in solitary confinement and will continue to attend court hearings on charges including corruption, according to media reports.
The UN, US and ASEAN special envoy have already raised deep concerns over the decision to move Suu Kyi while France has renewed its appeal for the release of all those being held arbitrarily in Myanmar.
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), which won a landslide victory in the 2020 election, has condemned the junta’s move, calling it one of the greatest mistakes in Myanmar’s history.
Suu Kyi had committed no crimes under any law and had lost her legal right to defend herself with the junta threatening lawyers to prevent them from providing legal assistance to her, the NLD said.
“We appeal to the UN and the international community to help release all political prisoners and spare Suu Kyi from prison as she is a renowned leader in the country as well as internationally,” the working committee of the NLD said on June 28.
Backed by the UN, the US and the European Union, ASEAN has been leading diplomatic efforts to tackle Myanmar’s political crisis but has been ineffective in pressuring the military regime.
Prak Sokhonn, the special envoy of the ASEAN, is making his second working visit to Myanmar from June 29 to July 3 since the non-implementation of ASEAN’s five-point peace plan by military chief Min Aung Haling after initially agreeing to it at a summit in April 2021.
Observers said Sokhonn is most unlikely to seek a meeting with Suu Kyi after he was not allowed to meet her during his visit in March.
Nearly 2,100 people including more than 100 children have been killed and over 14,000 detained since the coup in Myanmar on Feb. 1, 2021.