Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved to house arrest after more than five years in prison following a military coup in Myanmar. Her sentence was commuted as part of a larger prisoner pardon linked to a Buddhist holiday.
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Myanmar’s former leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved to house arrest, state media report, more than five years after the military toppled the civilian government that the Nobel laureate had led and jailed her.
President Min Aung Hlaing, who ordered the coup in 2021, said in a statement on Thursday that he “commuted the remaining sentence to be served at the designated residence”.
State media broadcast a photograph of Suu Kyi seated on a wooden bench and flanked by two uniformed personnel – the first public image of the democracy campaigner in years.
Translation: Change the location where Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is serving her sentence (change her remaining sentences to continue serving at her designated residence).
Earlier on Thursday, authorities had announced her prison sentence was being reduced as part of a larger prisoner pardon tied to a Buddhist religious holiday. State media said in addition to the amnesty granted to 1,519 prisoners, including 11 foreigners, the sentences of remaining convicted prisoners were cut by a sixth.
Suu Kyi was originally sentenced to 33 years in prison in late 2022 for several offences that her supporters and rights groups described as attempts to discredit her and legitimise the army takeover that removed her from office and to prevent her return to politics.
Thursday’s amnesty, the second applied to her in recent weeks, would bring her sentence down to 18 years with more than 13 years left to serve, according to the calculation.
The decision to move the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner to house arrest was welcomed as a “meaningful step” towards a “credible political process”, a spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.
“We appreciate the commutation of Aung San Suu Kyi to a so-called house arrest in a designated residence. It is a meaningful step towards conditions conducive to a credible political process,” Stephane Dujarric told reporters.
He reiterated the UN’s call for the “swift release” of all political prisoners in Myanmar.
“It is good to hear that the house arrest has been confirmed, but we haven’t received any direct notification,” a member of Suu Kyi’s legal team told the Reuters news agency.
“We only found out about it from the news announcement.”
The amnesty is the second in two weeks after one on April 17 when more than 4,500 prisoners were granted amnesty.
The amnesties come after Min Aung Hlaing was sworn into office as president on April 10 after an election that critics said was neither free nor fair and was orchestrated to maintain the military’s tight grip on power.
Aung San Suu Kyi was moved to house arrest as part of a commutation of her sentence linked to a larger prisoner pardon for a Buddhist holiday.
The change means she will serve her remaining sentence at her designated residence instead of in prison.
A total of 1,519 prisoners were pardoned, including 11 foreigners, as part of the amnesty announcement.
The coup was ordered by President Min Aung Hlaing in 2021, which resulted in the military taking control of the government.
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In his inauguration speech, he said his government would grant amnesties aimed at promoting social reconciliation, justice and peace.
Suu Kyi, who is now 80 years old, has been serving her prison term at an undisclosed location in the capital, Naypyitaw.
Information about her condition has remained tightly controlled. Reports in 2024 and 2025 indicated declining health, including low blood pressure, dizziness and heart problems, but these claims could not be independently verified. Her legal team has not been allowed to meet her in person since December 2022.
The 2021 army takeover triggered enormous public resistance that was brutally suppressed, triggering a bloody civil war that has killed thousands of people.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a rights monitoring organisation, 22,047 people have been in detention in Myanmar since the army takeover.
Suu Kyi spent almost 15 years as a political prisoner under house arrest between 1989 and 2010. Her tough stand against military rule in Myanmar turned her into a symbol of nonviolent struggle for democracy.