Yangon, Sept. 10, 2025 — The son of former Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has raised alarm over her worsening health in military detention, urging urgent medical attention and her immediate release.
Kim Aris told Reuters that the 80-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been suffering from heart problems and requested to see a cardiologist nearly a month ago. It remains unclear if that request was granted. “I am extremely worried. There is no way of verifying if she is even alive,” Aris said.
In addition to her heart condition, Suu Kyi has long struggled with gum and bone issues. Aris added that she may have been injured during the powerful earthquake in March that killed more than 3,700 people across Myanmar.
Suu Kyi has been held in military custody since the February 2021 coup that toppled her democratically elected government. Convicted on 19 charges, including corruption, she was initially sentenced to 33 years in prison, later reduced to 27.
Her exact location has been shrouded in secrecy. Leaked prison logs earlier this year indicated she is confined in a special facility in Naypyidaw under solitary conditions, with extremely limited access to visitors or medical care.
The junta has repeatedly denied reports of her ill health. Military spokesperson Lieutenant General Zaw Min Tun recently dismissed such claims as “fabricated and false,” insisting that Suu Kyi is in good condition.
International rights groups and governments, however, continue to call for her unconditional release, citing grave concerns for her safety and well-being. Suu Kyi, daughter of independence hero Aung San, spent 15 years under house arrest before her release in 2010, later leading Myanmar’s brief experiment with democratic rule before being deposed in 2021.
Her declining health has once again drawn global attention to the plight of political prisoners in Myanmar, where the military continues to detain thousands of activists, journalists, and opposition leaders.
