The United Nations has voiced concern over reports that Myanmar’s military regime is blocking urgent medical treatment for detained democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who has fallen ill.
The 78-year-old Nobel laureate was arrested during the coup in February 2021. She has since been sentenced to 33 years in jail for a multitude of alleged offenses in a series of closed trials held by the military regime. She denies any wrongdoing. The regime cut six years from her sentence as part of a general amnesty in early August.
Prison sources said the 78-year-old was unwell last week, suffering with a serious toothache and unable to eat. She was also vomiting and felt dizzy.
However, her request to see an outside dentist was denied by prison authorities.
On Wednesday, the deputy spokesman for the UN Secretary-General said: “We’ve made clear our concerns about Aung San Suu Kyi,” adding that everyone in detention should have access to healthcare.
“We have called and continue to call for her release, as well as the release of the other leaders of the National League for Democracy,” the deputy spokesperson said.
The detained ex-state counselor is being held in solitary confinement at a prison in Naypyitaw, the regime’s nerve center.
She has been denied prison visits as well as access to her legal team since late last year.
A total of 19,424 political prisoners are being held in regime jails, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma).
Political detainees are regularly denied deliveries of food, medicine and other necessities as punishment for staging protests inside jails.
The junta recently imposed restrictions on outside deliveries of food and medicines to political detainees in seven jails across the country, including Insein Prison in Yangon and Obo Prison in Mandalay, according to family members and volunteers.
