Myanmar Cuts Suu Kyi's Sentence Again, Now 18 Years Imprisonment
The detained former leader of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, has once again received a reduction in her prison sentence. This week, Suu Kyi was granted a one-sixth cut to her sentence as part of an amnesty.
It is the second sentence reduction she has received in the last two weeks.
The latest reduction by Myanmar’s authorities, as reported by Reuters on Thursday (30/4/2026), was announced by Suu Kyi’s legal team in a statement on Thursday (30/4) local time.
With this reduction, according to one of her lawyers who declined to be named, the 80-year-old Suu Kyi will now serve around 18 years of imprisonment.
Suu Kyi has been detained since being ousted in the 2021 military coup. After a series of lengthy trials, she was sentenced to 33 years in prison after being found guilty of various charges, ranging from corruption and incitement of election fraud to violations of state secrecy rules.
Her allies at the time described the charges as politically motivated and aimed at removing Suu Kyi.
The sentence was later reduced to 27 years before being cut by one-sixth in a mass amnesty during Myanmar’s New Year on 17 April. That amnesty freed former President Win Myint, another Suu Kyi ally.
The latest reduction announced this week came after Myanmar’s state media stated on Thursday (30/4) that all prisoners would receive sentence reductions.
Suu Kyi’s whereabouts are not clearly known, and she has not been seen in public since her trials. Myanmar’s authorities continue to hold Suu Kyi in a secret location, with the government yet to grant face-to-face access to her legal team or family.
The Myanmar government spokesperson has not yet responded.
Suu Kyi’s sentence reduction occurs as Myanmar’s new President, Min Aung Hlaing, faces international pressure to free political detainees following recent elections. Min Aung Hlaing, the former Myanmar military leader, is the figure who ousted Suu Kyi in the coup.
Pressure is also coming from the Southeast Asian bloc, ASEAN, with Min Aung Hlaing telling Thailand’s Foreign Minister last week that Suu Kyi is “being well taken care of” and that his government is considering unspecified “good things.”