Kim Aris, the son of 80-year-old Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, shared a letter from French President Emmanuel Macron calling for the immediate release of Myanmar’s jailed State Counsellor on Tuesday.
“I was very concerned to learn, through information provided by your son, of the deterioration of your health and the difficulty you face in accessing appropriate care, in the context of an unjust detention, which France has repeatedly denounced,” President Macron wrote in the letter addressed to Aung San Suu Kyi.
France, along with the U.S., the U.K., the E.U., Canada, Australia, and Japan, has repeatedly urged the regime, which ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) government in a military coup on Feb. 1, 2021, to release her unconditionally.
“This brutal and bloody challenge has plunged your country into a long-term crisis, with dramatic consequences for its populations and neighbouring states… Our bilateral relations have been disrupted,” Macron added in the letter.
This marks the first time President Macron has delivered his appeal directly to Aung San Suu Kyi, which was handed to her son, Kim Aris, by Special Envoy for Myanmar of the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France Christian Lechervy.
Aris did not share the exact date or location of the meeting with Lechervy.
“My mother, now elderly and unwell, has spent much of her life deprived of freedom for the sake of her country. Her release is not only a matter of justice and humanity, but it is essential for Burma’s freedom and peace,” Aris wrote on social media on Nov. 4.
He added that he was “deeply moved” by France’s moral stance, adding: “Its moral leadership reminds the world that truth, peace, and freedom must never be silenced.”
“We continue to call for your immediate and unconditional release, as well as that of President U Win Myint and all those imprisoned for political reasons since the military coup,” Macron continued in his letter to Aung San Suu Kyi.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) has documented an estimated 30,000 people have been arrested in Myanmar in connection with anti-coup activities since 2021. Around 22,600 remain behind bars, including over 11,300 who have been sentenced.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been reportedly relocated from house arrest, where the regime said – without providing any evidence – in April 2024 that she had been moved from her prison cell to an undisclosed location in Naypyidaw.
“France intends to stand alongside its populations in danger and support a de-escalation of violence and the paths to peace charted by legitimate political leaders,” Macron concluded in the letter.
Aung San Suu Kyi was convicted on multiple charges, including corruption, breaching COVID-19 restrictions, importing and possessing walkie-talkies, incitement, and violations of the state secrets and telecommunications laws.
She is serving a 33 year prison sentence, which was reduced to 27 years after a “partial pardon” was given by the regime in August 2023.
Aris has been advocating for his mother’s release and for her to, at least, be allowed to receive proper medical care for her heart condition.
He made an appeal to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Oct. 3 to assist in securing Aung San Suu Kyi’s release from regime detention.
