PHNOM PENH: The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Special Envoy of the ASEAN Chair on Myanmar, DPM Prak Sokhonn, has conveyed to the State Administrative Council (SAC) of the Union of Myanmar the deep concern expressed by ASEAN colleagues with regard to the report on the transfer of Aung San Suu Kyi from her home to a jail in Naypyidaw. The DPM has urged the council to facilitate her return to the home where she was originally detained.

In a letter, dated 27 June, and addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar, Wunna Maung Lwin, DPM Prak Sokhonn wrote, “I have no doubt that the same concern resonates beyond ASEAN, considering that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is regarded internationally and by many in Myanmar as having a critical role in your country's return to normalcy and national reconciliation through a peaceful political solution."

In his capacity as the Special Envoy of the ASEAN Chair on Myanmar, the DPM continued, "I would like to echo the voice of our ASEAN colleagues in urging the State Administrative Council of Myanmar to exercise compassion and facilitate the return of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to the home where she was originally detained, in consideration of her fragile health and well-being, as well as fair and judicious practice of the rule of law."

"We all share the view that a peaceful national reconciliation cannot be expected when one party to the conflict is taken out of the resolution equation," he wrote, further underlining that all ASEAN member states “strongly encourage the State Administrative Council of Myanmar to begin an inclusive process of national reconciliation without further delay."

He added that a peaceful political resolution to conflict, no matter how complex it is, must involve the sharing of political space by all involved.

According to Myanmar’s military junta, Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved to solitary confinement inside a prison compound in the capital city, Naypyidaw. The 77-year-old former leader has been held by the military since 1 February last year, when it ousted her democratically elected government, plunging Myanmar into chaos.

Suu Kyi has since been charged with at least 20 offences that could lead to her spending the rest of her life in jail, including multiple counts of corruption, which each carry a maximum penalty of 15 years. Her legal team have denied the charges, while rights groups have condemned the cases as an attempt to remove her as a political threat.

After last year’s coup, she was initially held at her home in the capital but has spent the past year at an unknown location, where she is helped by seven people detained alongside her, and has a dog – reportedly a gift from her son.