On Wednesday, local media claimed that 22 individuals were arrested by Myanmar police for celebrating the birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s leading democracy icon.
Eleven Media, citing an anonymous official, stated that police in Mandalay, the second-largest city in Myanmar, had arrested 22 people for posting images of themselves with flowers in their hair, a look that has long been associated with Suu Kyi.
Approximately twelve people were detained in the central Myanmar city, according to other local media, for wearing flowers or praying in public.
A well-known pro-junta Telegram channel shared many images purporting to depict the people detained, one of which featured five persons with their legs cuffed.
The military has been holding Suu Kyi, who turned 79 on Wednesday, since it overthrew her government and took over in 2021.
The military is having difficulty quelling a widespread armed revolt that was started by the coup and the ensuing crackdown on opposition.
Foreign dignitaries and politicians have made multiple attempts to meet Nobel laureate Suu Kyi, who has allegedly experienced health issues during her more than three years in jail, but the junta has turned them down.
The sole known meeting Suu Kyi had with a foreign diplomat since the coup occurred in July of last year, when Don Pramudwinai, the Thai foreign minister at the time, claimed to have spent more than an hour with her.
Suu Kyi was sentenced to 27 years in prison by a junta court during a trial that human rights organizations deemed to be a farce intended to keep her out of politics.
Her son told AFP in February she was in “strong spirits” after receiving a letter from her — their first communication since she was detained in the coup.
