Could be dead: Suu Kyi's son says he hasn't heard from jailed ex-leader in years
And while he rejects attempts by Myanmar's junta to hold elections later this month, dismissed by many foreign governments as a sham aimed at legitimising military rule, he says it could provide an opening to ease his mother's plight.
Kim Aris told Reuters he has not heard from his 80-year-old mother in years, and has received only sporadic, secondhand details about her heart, bone and gum problems since a 2021 military coup that deposed her government.
"She's got ongoing health issues. Nobody has seen her in over two years. She hasn't been allowed contact with her legal team, never mind her family," he said in an interview in Tokyo. "For all I know, she could be dead already."
"I imagine (Myanmar junta leader) Min Aung Hlaing has his own agenda when it comes to my mother. If he does want to use her to try and appease the general population before or after the elections by either releasing her or moving her to house arrest, then at least that would be something," he added.
A Myanmar junta spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment.
Myanmar's military has a history of releasing prisoners to mark holidays or important events.
Nobel Peace Laureate Suu Kyi was freed in 2010 days after an election, ending a previous long period of detention largely spent at her colonial-style family home on Yangon's Inya Lake.
She went on to become Myanmar's de-facto leader after elections in 2015, the first openly contested vote in a quarter-century, though her international image was later tarnished by accusations of genocide committed against her country's Muslim Rohingya minority.
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