Myanmar rejects ASEAN Suu Kyi release call

Myanmar's military-backed government has rejected the ASEAN' renewed call for the unconditional release of detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi and dismissed the need for the organization's special envoy on Myanmar. The foreign affairs ministry stated that while sentences have been commuted on humanitarian grounds, full release would only be carried out in accordance with the law. The government also indicated it would not continue with the special envoy mechanism after Singapore takes over the ASEAN chair on January 1, 2027. This follows a recent visit by an International Committee of the Red Cross representative to Suu Kyi, the first such contact since her detention five years ago. President Min Aung Hlaing, who seized power in 2021, has been barred from top-level ASEAN meetings for failing to comply with the bloc's peace plan. Critics dismiss the recent elections as a sham to consolidate military rule.