UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has called on Myanmar authorities to immediately and unconditionally release former National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
According to AFP, on Friday (April 17), Türk posted on social media platform X, stating that all those unjustly detained since the coup, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, must be released immediately and unconditionally, and called for an end to the ongoing violence against the people of Myanmar.
During the Myanmar New Year, the presidential office announced a pardon for more than 4,500 prisoners. Aung San Suu Kyi’s lawyer told Reuters that her original 27-year sentence has been reduced by one-sixth.
The 80-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi is the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. On February 1, 2021, Myanmar’s military launched a coup, overthrowing her democratically elected government and detaining her, while bringing multiple charges against her. This has led to ongoing turmoil and civil war in the country.