BANGKOK, Aug 3 (Reuters) – Myanmar’s detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi met with a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Monday, a spokeswoman for the Myanmar government said, amid concerns over the health of the 81-year-old.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner has been in detention since February 2021 when an elected civilian government led by her was ousted by Myanmar’s military in a dawn coup, plunging the impoverished Southeast Asian nation into turmoil.
Since then, Suu Kyi’s exact whereabouts and health conditions have been difficult to determine, with no foreign leader or envoy having publicly met her.
On Monday, Suu Kyi met with Arnaud de Baecque, Resident Representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to Myanmar in the capital Naypyitaw, government spokeswoman Khine Khine Soe said in a message via Telegram.
The ICRC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In two of the four photographs provided by the government spokeswoman, Suu Kyi – dressed in traditional Burmese attire – is seen meeting with Baecque in a sparsely furnished, wood-paneled room containing only two chairs and a desk.
In another photo, offering a rare glimpse inside what appears to be her residence, Suu Kyi is seen cutting a birthday cake inscribed with her name, with a clothes rack and storage boxes visible in the background. A fourth photograph is a close-up of the cake, inscribed with “Happy Birthday Aunty Suu 29.6.2026”.
Reuters was not able to independently verify the location and the date when the pictures were taken. No earlier version of the pictures was found posted online before Monday.
MOVE TO HOUSE ARREST
Suu Kyi has been serving a 27-year sentence after being convicted of multiple offences based on charges her allies said were politically motivated.
In late April, following a military-engineered election that allowed former junta leader Min Aung Hlaing to become Myanmar’s president, authorities said that she had been moved to house arrest.
Her sentence was also commuted by one-sixth as part of an amnesty for thousands of prisoners, which also saw the release of her ally, former President Win Myint.
But the new military-backed administration has so far been reluctant to provide access to Suu Kyi, including a May request by the Philippines to allow a special envoy of the regional ASEAN bloc to meet with the detained leader.
Myanmar’s junta said last December that Suu Kyi is “in good health,” after her son told Reuters he had received little information about his aging mother’s condition and not heard from her in years, fearing she could die without him knowing.
(Reporting by Devjyot Ghoshal and Reuters staff; Editing by John Mair)
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