Myanmar’s military junta must immediately provide urgent medical treatment to ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the county’s government-in-exile has said, after a report by The Independent on her growing health concerns.
The exiled National Unity Government, formed by opponents of the military and political leaders who were ousted in a 2021 coup, said the international community should put more pressure on the junta authorities to provide healthcare and security to political detainees.
The Independent reported on Monday that Ms Suu Kyi, 78, is suffering from gum disease, which has left her vomiting and unable to eat due to pain. A request for treatment for her condition by jail authorities has been denied by the junta.
Ms Suu Kyis’s youngest son Kim Aris expressed deep concern and anguish about her condition, calling her treatment by the military junta “heinous” and “callous”.
Mr Aris said he was told that Ms Suu Kyi has been experiencing bouts of vomiting and severe dizziness. He added that being unable to eat could put her life at risk.
The National Unity Government is a coalition of all the political parties in Myanmar, including prominent pro-democracy figures, representatives of armed ethnic groups and members of the former government of Ms Suu Kyi’s party.
It was formed to oppose the military coup in early 2021 that overthrew the democratically-elected government and launched a brutal crackdown on its opponents, with thousands jailed or killed.
Kyaw Zaw, spokesperson for the National Unity Government, told Reuters: “The international community should pressure the junta for the healthcare and security of all the political detainees including Aung San Suu Kyi.”
Following the coup in February 2021, Ms Suu Kyi was initially held at her official residence in the capital under house arrest before being moved to an undisclosed location widely believed to be on an army base. She was again transferred, this time to prison, on 22 June 2022.
She is facing 27 years in prison in 19 criminal offences ranging from incitement and election fraud to corruption, and has been appealing against them. Her sentence was reduced from 33 years after the junta pardoned five of the charges.
She has denied all the charges, which both she and Western officials say are designed to legitimise the 2021 coup and keep her from power.
Many governments, including the US and UK, have called for Ms Suu Kyi’s unconditional release along with thousands of others who were detained in the junta’s bloody crackdown on protests.
Known and beloved in much of Myanmar as “the Lady”, Ms Suu Kyi helped establish the country’s first civilian government in half a century and fulfilled the dreams of millions when her party won a landslide election in 2015.
The daughter of independence hero Aung San, who was assassinated in 1947 when she was only two years old, she won the Nobel Peace Prize for campaigning for democracy in 1991. She was first put under house arrest in 1989 by the junta and after huge protests against decades of military rule and was only fully released in 2010.