Myanmar’s detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, 78, is being moved to house arrest due to fears of heat stroke – three years after she was locked up in prison following a military coup.

Myanmar’s detained former leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved from prison to house arrest, a spokesman for the military government said.

Suu Kyi, 78, has been detained – at times in solitary confinement – by Myanmar’s military since it overthrew her government in a 2021 coup.

“Since the weather is extremely hot, it is not only for Aung San Suu Kyi … For all those who need necessary precautions, especially elderly prisoners, we are working to protect them from heat stroke,” junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun said in comments reported by local media.

She faces 27 years in prison for crimes ranging from treason and bribery to violations of the Telecommunications Act, charges she denies.

General Min Aung Hlaing, leader of the junta, has ruled Myanmar since Suu Kyi’s ouster and arrest in February 2021

In February, her son Kim Aris said she was being kept in solitary confinement and that she was doing well ‘although her health is not as good as it was previously’.

Aris has previously told how he wanted his mother to be returned to her home in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon.

Last fall, he called military leaders’ decision to keep his mother in prison while she suffers from ill health ‘horrific’ in an interview with The independent.

“Detaining someone illegally in prison, a move condemned by the outside world, turns into further and heinous injustices when basic human rights are abrogated,” he said.

World leaders and pro-democracy activists have repeatedly called for her release.

In February, her youngest son Kim Aris, 46, seen here, said she was kept in solitary confinement and that she was in good spirits ‘although her health is not as good as before’.

Her legal team continues to appeal to prove her innocence in the cases, as well as working on appeals for 14 others she faces.

A spokesman for the NUG shadow government called for the unconditional release of Suu Kyi and U Win Myint, Myanmar’s ousted president, who media reports say has also been moved to house arrest.

‘It is good to move them from prisons to houses, as houses are better than prisons. However, they must be released unconditionally. They must take full responsibility for the health and safety of Aung San Suu Kyi and U Win Myint, spokesman Kyaw Zaw said late Tuesday.

General Min Aung Hlaing, leader of the junta, has ruled Myanmar since Suu Kyi’s ouster and arrest in the February 2021 coup.