Myanmar reduces Aung San Suu Kyi’s 27-year prison sentence by a sixth, but Nobel laureate remains in prison
Myanmar has reduced the sentence of former leader Aung San Suu Kyi by one-sixth, but the 80-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate remains detained in an undisclosed location, her lawyer told Reuters on Friday.Suu Kyi was serving a 27-year prison sentence for a series of crimes that her allies say were politically motivated, ranging from incitement, corruption, election fraud, and violating the state secrets law. The reduction in sentence means that her term has been reduced by approximately 4 and a half years.However, she was not among the 4,335 prisoners released in the new year amnesty announced by President Min Aung Hlaing earlier on Friday, according to state-run broadcaster MRTV.
The amnesty also included commuting death sentences to life imprisonment, and life sentences to 40 years.The former leader has not appeared in public since the end of her marathon trials. Her whereabouts are still unknown. In interviews with Reuters last year, her son Kim Aris said he had received only limited updates on her condition but knew her health was deteriorating.
The third amnesty within six months
The amnesty issued on the occasion of the New Year is the third issuance of its kind during the past six months.
In November 2025, the former junta announced that it would pardon or drop charges against 8,665 people. In January 2026, more than 6,000 prisoners were released in an Independence Day amnesty. Suu Kyi was excluded from both.The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners reported that more than 30,000 people have been detained on political charges since the 2021 coup, including Suu Kyi, former President Win Myint, and thousands of activists and anti-junta militia members.
First pardon for Min Aung Hlaing as president
Parliament elected Min Aung Hlaing as president on April 3, formalizing his grip on power in a country still locked in a civil war that has displaced more than 3.5 million people. At his inauguration last week, he said that peace, stability and reconciliation were his priorities.
