The youngest son of Aung San Suu Kyi has spoken to his mother for the first time in five years since she was imprisoned by the military junta, raising hopes she might finally be released.
In a dramatic breakthrough, Kim Aris was alerted by the British Foreign Office to go to the Burmese embassy in Mayfair and was allowed to talk to her for 20 minutes on his own.
“It was wonderful finally to be able to speak with my mother,” he told The Independent. “Hearing her voice means more than words can express. She sounded strong and was delighted that we could finally speak.
“We mainly spoke about family matters, and I was able to find out about her condition, where she was staying and reassure her that we are doing everything we can to keep up the determination to get her freed.”
Ms Suu Kyi has spent more than 20 years of her life being held by the Burmese military and is the last beacon of hope for democracy for the country.
Mr Aris learned that she was suffering from tendonitis, which is affecting her right hand. She is being held under house arrest in Naypitaw and is largely on her own.
“Police are stationed around the house and she is able to go into the garden, which is essentially scrubland,” said Mr Aris.
“It is a wonderful moment to hear her voice and to be able to talk to her and know that she is alive.”
However, while praising the support he has received in getting to this point, Mr Aris renewed his calls for his mother and other political prisoners to be freed.
“My mother is 81. She remains unjustly detained, and a single conversation cannot restore the years taken from her or the rights she is still denied,” he said.
“Your voices helped me hear my mother again. Please do not let the world mistake that moment for her freedom. One conversation is not regular family access. Family access is not freedom.”
“My mother must never be held hostage or used as a bargaining chip for diplomatic recognition, sanctions relief or political advantage,” he continued.
“Above all, my mother and all political prisoners must be released immediately and unconditionally. Freedom is not a favour to be granted or a concession to be negotiated.”
The Independent has been campaigning for Ms Suu Kyi’s freedom and released a documentary in December 2024 examining the controversial former leader’s political career and legacy entitled Cancelled: The Rise and Fall of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Mr Aris spoke at a screening of the documentary at an event in London this week, where he warned that the junta was terrified about releasing his mother as she still wielded so much power among the people of Myanmar.
Asked why she was still being held by military chief-turned-president Min Aung Hlaing, he said: “I think he’s still afraid of her; ultimately, the power she is able to hold in Burma is still much greater than people realise and the people of Burma still support her.
“When they freed her previously, I don’t think they realised quite how much support she had – now they do.”
And in a dramatic intervention by King Charles this week, images were released by the Myanmar authorities showing her receiving two books on gardening and a sealed letter from the king.
The books were The Land Gardeners: Soil to Table, by British authors Bridget Elworthy and Henrietta Courtauld, which explores how healthy soil helps produce healthy food. The second, Soil: The World at Our Feet, is a catalogue from an exhibition at London’s Somerset House about the importance of soil to life on Earth.
The new photographs, which were released by the junta on social media, showed Ms Suu Kyi wearing a traditional blouse and skirt, seated across a small table from two officials in a wood-panelled room.
Ms Suu Kyi was arrested in February 2021 when Myanmar’s military seized power from her elected government in a coup. She was subsequently convicted of multiple offences, including corruption, incitement and election fraud, in trials that have been criticised by her supporters and human rights groups as politically motivated.
In April 2026, the regime reduced her sentence through a series of amnesties, bringing the remaining term to 18 years, and transferred her from prison to house arrest.
Read MoreAung San Suu Kyi won’t be freed because junta believe she’s too powerful, says son
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