Myanmar's imprisoned democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been transferred from prison to house arrest, a military official revealed Wednesday. This move comes as the junta announced measures to protect inmates from a heat wave.
The 78-year-old Nobel laureate is currently serving a 27-year sentence for various criminal convictions, including corruption and breaching COVID-19 rules.
Suu Kyi has been largely out of public view since the military seized power in a coup in 2021, and reports suggest she has experienced health issues.
Speaking anonymously due to a lack of authorization to speak to the media, the military official stated that Suu Kyi and former president Win Myint had been moved to house arrest.
Junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun said that a spell of hot weather had prompted authorities to take measures to protect vulnerable detainees.
"Not only Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and U Win Myint but also some old prisoners were given necessary care because of very hot weather," Zaw Min Tun told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The temperature in the capital Naypyidaw, where Suu Kyi is believed to be in custody in a specially constructed compound, is expected to hit 41 degrees Celsius (105.8 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, with even hotter weather forecast for the coming week.
The junta also announced Wednesday that 3,300 prisoners would be freed as part of a regular amnesty to mark the country's New Year's festival.
Outside Yangon's Insein Prison, about 200 to 300 relatives and friends waited to greet prisoners as they were taken out of the compound in buses.
It was not immediately clear how long Suu Kyi would be allowed to remain under house arrest beyond the heat wave or whether the move represented an official reduction in her sentence.
Local media reported that during her months-long trial, Suu Kyi had suffered dizzy spells, vomiting and, at times, had been unable to eat because of a tooth infection.
Her son Kim Aris told AFP in February that she was still being held at the special compound in Naypyitaw.
The compound had no air conditioning in the searing heat and the concrete cells leaked during the monsoon, according to Australian economist Sean Turnell, a former adviser to Suu Kyi's government who was detained there for months.
Suu Kyi spent about 15 years under house arrest at her family's colonial-era lakeside mansion in the commercial hub Yangon after she shot to fame during huge demonstrations against the then-junta in 1988.
Wednesday's prisoner amnesty includes 13 Indonesians and 15 Sri Lankans who will be deported, the junta said.
Remaining prisoners will have their sentences cut by one-sixth, the junta said in a statement, except for those convicted of serious offenses, including murder, terrorism and drug charges.
Myanmar's military ousted Suu Kyi's civilian government in a lightning coup in February 2021, ending the country's 10-year experiment with democracy after decades of army rule.
The coup triggered a huge outpouring of public opposition, which the military attempted to crush with force, unleashing a spiraling conflict that has left more than 4,800 civilians dead.
The army is now struggling to maintain its grip on the country in the face of resistance from civilian anti-junta fighters and long-established ethnic minority armed groups.
