Saturday 08 / February / 2025
State media in Myanmar reported Tuesday that civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been pardoned by the country's ruling junta in an amnesty of more than 7,000 prisoners to mark Buddhist Lent.
"Chairman of State Administration Council pardons Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who was sentenced by the relevant courts," a broadcast said.
The pardon is to cover just five of the many offenses of which she has been convicted. A broadcast said Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, still faces 14 other cases.
According to an "informed source" cited by Reuters news agency, she will remain in detention.
Long prison term
Suu Kyi headed Myanmar's democratically elected government before it was overthrown in a 2021 coup. She has been detained since then.
Since the army overthrew Suu Kyi's elected government, a number of charges, which critics call politically motivated, have resulted in her being sentenced to a total of 33 years in jail.
They include corruption, possession of illegal walkie-talkies and violations of coronavirus restrictions.
On Friday, the 78-year-old was reportedly moved from prison to house arrest in the capital, Naypyitaw.
At the time, the Associated Press had cited an unidentified security official as saying the move was an act of clemency to prisoners as part of a religious ceremony to take place the next week.
Suu Kyi has been seen only once since she was held after the coup, and that just in state media photos taken in a courtroom.
Former President Win Myint was also among the thousands of prisoners who received some sort of pardon on the religious occasion.
The junta frequently grants amnesty to prisoners to mark holidays or special Buddhist dates.
