It is only one measure of the cruel treatment meted out by the ruling junta to the former leader of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, that she has not been able to speak to any members of her family since 2021.
Her youngest son, Kim Aris, has now been able to contact her by telephone through the embassy of Myanmar in London, and he confirms that, aged 81, still under house arrest, she is frail and suffering from tendonitis, a debilitating disease that causes inflammation and pain around the joints. There can be little doubt that the five years she spent in prison since being ousted in the 2021 coup have weakened her physically – but the suffering has not diminished her spirits, nor her determination to serve her country.
