OMM Newsroom
Imprisoned Myanmar politician Aung San Suu Kyi spoke by phone on Thursday with her son, Kim Aris, who is based in the UK. It was their first family conversation in more than five years, Anadolu Agency reported.
Khaing Khaing Soe, a spokeswoman for Myanmar’s president, said in a statement that the call was arranged as a consular telephone conversation through Myanmar’s Embassy in London. It took place between 08:30 and 08:50 GMT, she said in a brief statement on Telegram.
“One conversation is not regular family access. Family access is not freedom,” Aris said after the call, according to Irrawaddy News.
Suu Kyi was arrested in February 2021, when incumbent President Min Aung Hlaing ousted her National League for Democracy government in a military coup.
Military junta courts sentenced her to a total of 33 years in prison. The sentence was reduced by six years to 27 years in August 2023. In April this year, she was moved to house arrest in the capital, Naypyitaw.
The junta brought 19 charges against Suu Kyi, including incitement, election fraud and corruption. Five charges were later dropped when her sentence was reduced. She has denied all the accusations.
The call came after Min’s government delivered two books and a sealed letter to Suu Kyi on Monday. The items were sent by British King Charles III.
Thousands of people have been killed or wounded since the 2021 coup in the Southeast Asian country, where internal ethnic clashes have intensified.
Min was appointed president in April this year after stepping down as chief of the military, locally known as the Tatmadaw.
