UN Secretary-General condemns Aung San Suu Kyi's detention in Myanmar, issues statement

As Myanmar's military detained State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest and declared the country under a state of emergency for one year, UN Secretary-General's spokesperson Stephane Dujarric tweeted a statement issued by the António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations. He stated that Guterres strongly condemns the detention of State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, President U Win Myint and other political leaders on the eve of the opening session of Myanmar’s new Parliament. It is a serious blow to Myanmar's democratic reforms, he added.

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"The Secretary-General strongly condemns the detention of State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, President U Win Myint and other political leaders on the eve of the opening session of Myanmar’s new Parliament.  He expresses his grave concern regarding the declaration of the transfer of all legislative, executive and judicial powers to the military.  These developments represent a serious blow to democratic reforms in Myanmar." UN stated.

The Secretary-General reaffirmed the UN's support for Myanmar people 'in their pursuit of democracy, peace, development, human rights and the rule of law'.

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Aung San Suu Kyi detained

Myanmar's military takes over as they detained de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and declared it had taken control of the country for one year under a state of emergency. Rising tensions between the military and the government for weeks, the intervention came after the allegations of fraud in November's elections.

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Myanmar's newly formed democracy

November 8 was the second openly contested vote in Myanmar after the 2015 elections, which saw Aung San Suu Kyi become the first democratically elected leader of the country after 50-years of junta rule. Despite winning the 2015 polls with a landslide victory, the Nobel laureate faced international scrutiny after she oversaw the genocide of lakhs of Rohingyas. Under Suu Kyi's rule, nearly 8,00,000 Rohingya Muslims had to flee Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh following state-sponsored persecution in the Buddhist-majority country.

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