Looking Beyond Suu Kyi’s New Ordeals in Prison

By The Irrawaddy 19 August 2022

Monday marks two months since Myanmar democracy chief Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was moved into solitary confinement in Naypyitaw Jail by the navy junta.

It’s the primary time the 77-year-old has frolicked in solitary in a jail. She has spent many intervals in detention for her management in opposition to successive Myanmar navy regimes since 1988, however till now her captors—the predecessors of the present regime led by Min Aung Hlaing—simply put her in home arrest at her residence in Yangon.

Nevertheless, after Min Aung Hlaing staged a coup in February final yr, she was saved beneath home arrest at an undisclosed location. Then she was transferred to solitary confinement in Naypyitaw Jail in June this yr. The outsiders she sees are legal professionals from her authorized staff throughout her weekly trial hearings for a collection of prices filed by the  junta at a particular court docket arrange within the jail compound.

Regardless that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is understood for her stoic endurance of the hardships she confronted throughout pervious home arrests, the solitary confinement she is now enduring with out her shut aides has prompted public concern over her safety and, most significantly, for her wellbeing and well being given her outdated age.

New ordeals

It’s identified that she is saved in a small solitary constructing someplace inside Naypyitaw Jail compound, the place safety has been beefed up since her arrival in June.

The regime claimed she was being handled “properly” after being positioned in solitary confinement however the constructing she is saved in appears to be like primitive with six home windows with iron bars. Native media reported that solely three have curtains, leaving the 77 year-old weak to Naypyitaw’s harsh climate—particularly in summer season and the chilly season. Including to her struggling is a swarm of visiting bugs because the jail is in the midst of scrubland.

Regardless that she is positioned in solitary confinement, it was reported that she has some jail guards to regulate her. Early this month she almost fell down within the washroom, prompting additional worries about her wellbeing. The regime mentioned Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will get common medical checkups.

Nothing is understood about her food plan within the jail. The regime as soon as mentioned they’ve assigned three ladies to organize meals for her. Nevertheless, she is used to residing on a strict routine, not often consuming purple meat whereas largely counting on greens. It was discovered that considered one of her legal professionals arranges some meals parcels for her as she just isn’t OK with the meals the jail gives.

For all the brand new ordeals she faces, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi maintains her stoic endurance, sources near the court docket mentioned, recalling her feedback about her expertise in solitary confinement. The regime muzzles her legal professionals, prohibiting them from speaking to the media.

“She talked about what she had been by means of matter-of-factly, not even within the air of a grievance,” one of many sources mentioned.

Entry to data

When she was beneath home arrest at an undisclosed location earlier than June, the regime claimed Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was allowed to learn newspapers and watch TV.

It’s now unclear if she nonetheless has these privileges within the jail. Nevertheless, she appears to get updates from her legal professionals throughout the trial hearings—generally with dangerous information she didn’t count on.

When she was advised in regards to the regime’s executions of her one-time aide and former NLD lawmaker Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw and veteran democracy activist Ko Jimmy in addition to two different activists in late July, she was visibly saddened by the information.

She even reacted by asking questions: “Can they be hanged beneath the legislation? Why did it [the regime] try this? They’ll’t try this!”

Days behind bars

It could be attention-grabbing to know the way she spends her days in solitary confinement.

It’s positive that she would begin her day with meditation, to which she has been devoted for a few years.

When she was beneath home arrest at her Yangon residence beneath the earlier regime, tuning in to the BBC World Service was a part of her morning ritual. Nevertheless it’s not identified if she even has entry to a radio now.

She should still be allowed to learn some books.

As she is now in solitary confinement, it’s possible that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is now not capable of do a few of her hobbies, like bakery—one she practiced till earlier than being transferred to the jail.

When she appeared for a court docket listening to after her 77th birthday on June 19 this yr, she shocked folks by bringing some truffles baked by herself. She shared the truffles not solely along with her authorized staff but in addition with the court docket employees, whereas ensuring that safety forces who took her to court docket received just a few slices.

Events she’s going to miss

2022 is the second yr in a row through which she has been unable to pay her respects to her late father and Myanmar navy founder Common Aung San on the Yangon Mausoleum, following the coup final yr. We are able to ensure that on July 19 she would have discovered a way from her solitary constructing in Naypyitaw Jail to pay homage to her father and others who had been assassinated alongside him by a political rival 75 years in the past.

She’s going to absolutely miss her pet canine Taichito, too. For her, Taichito is greater than only a canine, because the animal was a present from her youthful son, Kim Aris. He offered it to his mom when he visited her upon her launch in 2010 “to guard her mum on his behalf.” The bond between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Taichito was evident to anybody who encountered the pair, and it’s well-known how fond she is of her pet. The canine was along with her all through her home arrest.