Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi speaks to son for first time in over five years

The son of Myanmar's detained former leader Aung San ​Suu Kyi said on Thursday that he had ​spoken with his mother for the ‌first time ​in more than five years while she remains under house arrest. Kim Aris, who for years had only received sporadic, second-hand updates about his 81-year-old mother, ‌said he had spoken directly with Suu Kyi.

"Hearing her voice again means more to me than words can express," Aris said in a statement. A spokesperson for Myanmar's military-backed president said on social media that Aris had spoken with ‌Suu Kyi by telephone through Myanmar's embassy in London, sharing separate photographs of the pair.

Suu Kyi, a Nobel ‌Peace Prize winner, has been detained since February 2021, when Myanmar's military ousted her elected government and arrested civilian leaders in early-morning raids. The coup sparked nationwide protests that evolved into an armed resistance movement, plunging the impoverished country into a civil war that has ⁠killed about ​100,000 people and displaced millions.

Suu ⁠Kyi was moved to house arrest in April following a military-engineered election that installed coup leader Min Aung Hlaing as president. She is currently ⁠serving an 18-year prison sentence on charges ranging from incitement and corruption to election fraud and violating a state secrets ​law, all of which she denies.

"She remains unjustly detained and a single conversation cannot restore the years ⁠taken from her or the rights she is still denied," Aris said. "Regular, direct and private family contact and independent medical access must be ⁠guaranteed."

For ​years, little information emerged about her health and wellbeing, raising concern among supporters and foreign governments. In August, Suu Kyi met with a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross — a visit that Aris ⁠had described at the time as a positive sign.

The military-backed government on Monday released rare photographs of Suu Kyi ⁠meeting with officials who ⁠delivered her books and a letter from Britain's King Charles. "Above all, my mother and all political prisoners must be released immediately and unconditionally," Aris said. "Freedom is not a ‌favour to be ‌granted or a concession to be negotiated."