Questions are being raised about whether Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi (born June 19, 1945) is even alive. And if she is alive, what about her physical condition?

Dannian Kim Arundel Aris, the elder son of the Myanmarese politician, diplomat, author and political activist, recently expressed such a concern about his mother who is imprisoned by the Junta Government. In an interview with Reuters from Tokyo in the second week of December 2025, he stressed: “She’s got ongoing health issues. Nobody has seen her in over two years. She has not been allowed to contact her legal team, never mind her family. For all I know, she could be dead already.“

Suu Kyi was arrested during a military coup in 2021. Initially, the Junta Government released some of her videos and also allowed her to meet her lawyers. However, no one has been allowed to meet Suu Kyi in the past couple of years. The Military Junta has only confirmed that the 80-year-old leader is suffering from heart, bone and gum-related problems. However, the Junta Administration remains tight-lipped about the seriousness of her illnesses or what kind of treatment she is receiving.

Earlier, Myanmar’s military chief Min Aung Hlaing announced that General Elections would be held on December 28, 2025. Kim Aris has claimed that the planned election would be a sham, stressing: “Because of the upcoming elections that the military is trying to stage, which we all know are completely unfair, and so far from being free that it would be laughable if it wasn’t so lamentable, I need to use this small window of opportunity.” He added: “In the past, when my mother was held in higher regard by the international community, then it was much harder for people to ignore what’s happening in Burma. But since her position was undermined through the crisis in Rakhine, that’s no longer the case.“

Kim Aris stated: “I imagine (Junta leader) Min Aung Hlaing has his own agenda when it comes to my mother. If he does want to use her to try and appease the general population before or after the elections by either releasing her or moving her to house arrest, then at least that would be something.” Interestingly, the Armed Forces of Myanmar have a history of releasing prisoners to mark holidays or important events. The Military Junta had freed Suu Kyi in 2010 days after an election, ending a previous long period of detention largely spent at her colonial-style family home near Yangon’s Inya Lake.

Kim Aris believes that his mother is being held in the capital city of Naypyitaw as she complained about the extreme temperatures in her cell during the summer and winter months in her last letter that he received from Suu Kyi two years ago. It may be noted that Suu Kyi is serving a 27-year sentence for offences, including incitement, corruption and election fraud, all of which she denies.

Suu Kyi emerged as the de-facto leader of Myanmar after the 2015 elections, the first openly contested polls in a quarter century. However, her global image was tarnished later by accusations of genocide committed against the Muslim Rohingya minority.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das