YANGON:
Myanmar’s deposed democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi marked her 80th birthday in junta detention on Thursday, serving a raft of sentences set to last the rest of her life.
Suu Kyi was the figurehead of Myanmar’s decade-long democratic thaw, becoming de facto leader as it opened up from military rule.
But as the generals snatched back power in a 2021 coup, she was locked up on charges ranging from corruption to breaching Covid-19 pandemic restrictions and is serving a 27-year sentence.
“It will be hard to be celebrating at the moment,” said her 47-year-old son Kim Aris from the UK. “We’ve learned to endure when it’s been going on so long.”
He has run 80 kilometres (50 miles) over the eight days leading up to her birthday, and collected over 80,000 well-wishing video messages for his mother.
