Myanmar’s junta has ruled out allowing detained former State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi to meet the ASEAN special envoy, saying she is serving a prison sentence and is therefore ineligible for such meetings.
“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is serving a prison sentence under the law. Therefore, she cannot be allowed to meet anyone at this time. She may be allowed to do so after she has completed her sentence,” junta spokesperson Khaing Khaing Soe told a press conference on Monday.
The statement came after the Philippines, ASEAN’s 2026 chair, formally requested on May 6 that the junta allow the ASEAN special envoy to meet Aung San Suu Kyi.
This is not the first time the junta has rejected requests from international representatives seeking access to the detained Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
In 2021, Brunei Foreign Minister Erywan Yusof, who was serving as ASEAN’s special envoy, sought permission to meet Aung San Suu Kyi and other stakeholders. The junta refused the request, prompting the cancellation of his planned visit to Myanmar.
In 2022, Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, then ASEAN’s special envoy, also requested a meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi. The junta rejected the request, saying her legal proceedings were still ongoing.
Later that year, then Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen urged Min Aung Hlaing to allow a meeting between Aung San Suu Kyi and the ASEAN special envoy, but no meeting took place.
One notable exception came in July 2023, when then Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai held a private one-hour meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyitaw. It was one of the few known meetings between the detained leader and a foreign diplomat since the military seized power in 2021.
However, ASEAN special envoys, United Nations officials, family members and her legal team have continued to be denied regular and independent access to her.
At the same briefing, Khaing Khaing Soe said Aung San Suu Kyi was in “very good health” and was receiving routine medical care.
Her younger son, Kim Aris, has disputed that account. Speaking to Kyodo News, he said he had received information indicating that his mother’s health had deteriorated and that she was suffering from age-related medical conditions, including heart disease and osteoporosis.
In April, the junta announced that it had reduced Aung San Suu Kyi’s prison sentence and transferred her to a designated residence.
However, neither her place of detention nor her current health condition has been independently verified by her family, legal representatives or any independent international organization.
