SINGAPORE
With her detention Monday amid a military coup in Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi’s dizzying journey on the world stage from democracy icon to leader of an elected government and then, astonishingly, a stalwart defender of the slaughter of Rohingya Muslims returned to a familiar place.
The 75-year-old is a political prisoner again, held along with dozens of allies and political leaders as the army retook power barely five years after elections that ended half a century of military rule.
The former junta held Suu Kyi under house arrest for nearly 15 years at her family’s lakeside villa in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, starting in 1989. She gained international prominence as the serene, smiling face of the struggle for democracy, winning the Nobel Peace Prize and basking in comparisons to Mahatma Gandhi for her promotion of nonviolence.
Ten years after her release, Aung San Suu Kyi is back in detention in Myanmar
During 15 years under house arrest, Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi transformed from a national figure into a global icon of democracy, winning the Nobel Peace Prize and a host of other accolades.
She was finally released in 2010, and five years later, military rule ended as the country held its first free elections in 25 years, in which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide.
Suu Kyi’s victory was lauded within the international community, where it was
viewed by many as a triumph of democratic values over the forces of authoritarianism. But true democracy requires more than a single election victory.
Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi appears to be heading back to where her rise to international prominence began: in detention, her fate at the whims of the Tatmadaw, the military which has ruled over Myanmar for most of the last 50 years.
Aung San Suu Kyi feeling well after being detained by Myanmar s military in coup
Myanmar s powerful military has taken control of the country in a coup and declared a state of emergency, following the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior government leaders in early morning raids on Monday.
The country woke up to widespread internet and communications blackouts, closed banks, and soldiers in army fatigues patrolling the streets of Myanmar s largest city, Yangon. Residents turning on their television sets could only access the military-owned Myawaddy TV channel, with all other news channels seemingly blocked.
As news filtered through that the country s democratically-elected leaders had been detained in the capital, a news anchor announced on the military-owned channel that power had been handed over to army chief Min Aung Hlaing.