After Years Unseen, Suu Kyi Finally Appears

Myanmar’s detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi met with a representative of the country’s Red Cross on Monday, after years of being unseen. This marks the first public meeting between Suu Kyi and a foreign official since she was deposed in the 2021 military coup. “Arnaud de Baecque, the Permanent Representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for Myanmar, met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi this morning,” read a statement from the Myanmar president’s office. The Myanmar military overthrew Suu Kyi in February 2021, imprisoning the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and triggering an ongoing civil war. Coup leader and former junta chief Min Aung Hlaing was sworn in as civilian president last April following a highly restricted election. Later that month, Suu Kyi, now 81, was moved to house arrest after Min Aung Hlaing said he had commuted the remainder of her sentence. Suu Kyi was detained after the coup on a raft of charges that rights groups say were fabricated to remove her. In photographs released by the president’s office, Suu Kyi is seen shaking hands with a man who appears to be de Baecque. Another image shows Suu Kyi cutting a birthday cake, and another shows a cake bearing the inscription: “Happy Birthday Auntie Suu”. The images could not be immediately verified, but an AI tool found no evidence of manipulation. Suu Kyi’s mysterious whereabouts had previously raised many questions. Last seen in public attending a hearing in late 2022, her condition was completely unknown. Her family, foreign diplomats, and regional leaders, particularly from ASEAN, had clamoured for proof that the 81-year-old was still alive. However, the ruling junta authorities repeatedly refused requests to meet with Myanmar’s most prominent political prisoner, despite claims she was moved to house arrest earlier this year. This sparked suspicions that Suu Kyi had died. The prominent media outlet The Economist even explored the question in an article titled “Is Aung San Suu Kyi Dead?” According to The Economist’s report, Suu Kyi had not appeared in public since her trial concluded in late 2022, following the 2021 military coup that toppled the civilian government she led. The latest effort was made by Suu Kyi’s youngest son, Kim Aris, who travelled to various countries to urge Myanmar’s military authorities to provide “proof that she is still alive”. Kim stated that Suu Kyi’s legal team had not even been granted access to meet her. Myanmar’s military government said in April that Suu Kyi had been moved from prison to house arrest, but they refused requests from foreign diplomats to see her.