A junta-controlled court in Yangon’s Kamayut Township ruled on Wednesday that the Yangon home of imprisoned civilian leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi would be auctioned again on Feb. 5, with its floor price lowered to 297 billion kyats.
The historic family property, at No. 54, University Avenue in Bahan Township, has been auctioned twice before but failed to receive a single bid on both occasions.
The floor price of 315 billion kyats at the first auction on Mar. 20 was lowered to 300 billion kyats (about US$ 92 million) at the second auction in August.
The home is at the center of an ownership dispute between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her estranged elder brother, U Aung San Oo, a US citizen living in California.
After the second auction, U Aung San Oo asked the court to reduce the floor price to 290 billion kyats. The court set the floor price at 297 billion kyats after Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyers filed a complaint.
The auctions came after the junta-controlled Supreme Court ruled in favor of the democracy icon’s brother, who had demanded the residence be auctioned off and the proceeds shared.
The 1.9-acre property on the edge of Inya Lake was given to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s mother, Daw Khin Kyi, by the government in 1947, following the assassination of her husband, independence hero General Aung San. Daw Khin Kyi lived in the home until her death in 1988.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to three terms of house arrest in the family home, spanning 15 years between 1989 and 2010 under previous military rulers.
Under the previous regime of Senior General Than Shwe, thousands of people frequently gathered at the residence’s gate to hear her speak about democracy, human rights, and free speech. After her 2010 release from house arrest, she welcomed global leaders and dignitaries to the home that served as her prison, including then US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and then US president Barack Obama, in 2011 and 2012 respectively.
The civilian National Unity Government declared the residence a national cultural heritage site in September 2022. It has warned that anyone seeking to purchase, sell, destroy, alter, or otherwise use the property will face legal action. The civilian government was formed after the Feb. 1, 2021 coup. It comprises elected lawmakers and allied leaders of ethnic groups.
The military arrested Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on the day of the coup, later handing her 33 years in prison on an array of fabricated charges.
The regime has repeatedly denied requests from her legal team to visit her in Naypyitaw Prison. Her lawyers are only allowed to send food and medicines, with no information on her condition except prison authorities’ claim that she is in good health, a source close to the court told The Irrawaddy.
