Politics News

Suu Kyi speaks to her son after five years: a thaw, or a PR move by Myanmar's military?

Myanmar's detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi has spoken to her son, Kim Aris, for the first time in more than five years. The Guardian reported that Aris announced the call on Facebook on Thursday, October 22, amid a loosening of her detention restrictions. India's ThePrint, carrying a Reuters report, said the call was made by telephone through Myanmar's embassy in London, and that a spokesperson for the military-backed president shared photos of the two together.

Suu Kyi, 81, has been held since the military ousted her elected government in February 2021. ThePrint notes she was moved to house arrest in April, after an election engineered by the military put coup leader Min Aung Hlaing in the presidency, and that she is serving an 18-year sentence on charges she denies.

“She still sounds certainly all there mentally, and physically she sounds strong.” — Kim Aris, via The Guardian

Three days later, Aris told The Guardian that his mother appears to be living in near-complete isolation, and he described the chance to speak to her as a “public relations” move by the military leaders.

How each outlet framed it

• The Guardian — first the emotional moment, then, in a follow-up interview, the son's view that the call was a PR move and that she is effectively in solitary confinement.
• ThePrint — the mechanics and the official side: the embassy line in London, government photos, the Red Cross visit in August and the length of her sentence.

What we don't know yet: Whether the call will be repeated. Aris has called for “regular, direct and private family contact and independent medical access”, and neither report says the authorities have agreed to that.