Detained Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been allowed to meet a delegation from the International Committee of the Red Cross, the first confirmed outside contact with her since a letter to her son two and a half years ago.
In photographs of the meeting released by the military government Suu Kyi appeared to be healthy.
She was detained shortly after the armed forces deposed her government in 2021, and sentenced her to 33 years in jail on what are widely viewed as trumped-up charges, though her sentence has been reduced and she has been moved to house arrest.
Despite repeated assurances from the military that Suu Kyi is alive and well, they have never provided convincing evidence of this.
Her son Kim Aris has in recent months mounted an international campaign demanding proof of life for the 81-year-old democracy icon.
Now a delegation from the ICRC has been allowed to meet her – her first confirmed meeting with anyone outside the government for nearly four years.
Photographs released of her with the ICRC team led by its representative Arnaud de Baecque show Suu Kyi looking relaxed and well, although no details of her state of health have been given, nor of what they talked about.
“The visit was carried out in accordance with the ICRC’s standards and procedures for visiting people deprived of liberty. This included the opportunity to speak with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in private,” the ICRC said in a short statement.
Kim Aris welcomed the news, saying the pictures appear real and his mother seemed to be in “good health”.
“It takes quite a lot for me to say that because the military have spread a lot of disinformation and false news over the years, so I’ve learnt to ignore a large part of it, but on this occasion, I think we can believe what’s been said,” he told the BBC’s Newshour programme.
The Myanmar government, still headed by coup leader Min Aung Hlaing and dominated by the military despite an election held earlier this year, is trying to end its diplomatic isolation in a series of official visits to neighbouring countries.
Among the top demands being made of Myanmar’s military leadership is that they end the aerial bombardment of opposition-held areas, start negotiations to end the civil war, and release Aung San Suu Kyi.
They have so far rejected those calls, but the publication of this morning’s meeting suggests they may be willing to accede to the last demand.
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