Myanmar Junta Chief Attends Martyrs’ Day as Aung San Suu Kyi Remains Barred

Under heavy security and amid communications blackouts, Myanmar military junta chief Min Aung Hlaing attended the 79th Martyrs’ Day ceremony at the Martyrs’ Mausoleum in Yangon on Sunday. Meanwhile, ousted civilian leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was barred from the event for the fifth consecutive year since the 2021 coup. The annual ceremony honors the country's independence hero, General Aung San—the father of Aung San Suu Kyi—and his cabinet colleagues who were assassinated on July 19, 1947. The state event was attended by high-ranking union officials and newly appointed military chiefs of staff, though the junta’s two vice presidents were notably absent. Representing General Aung San’s family was Ye Aung Than, a grandnephew of the late general, along with his wife. A wreath sent by Aung San Suu Kyi’s estranged elder brother, Aung San Oo, was also placed at the mausoleum. Security in the commercial capital was tightened for the event, with residents reporting temporary cellular network shutdowns and disruptions to mobile communications across several Yangon townships as troops deployed in large numbers around the mausoleum. Aung San Suu Kyi, 81, remains completely cut off from the outside world. While the previous military regime occasionally permitted her to attend Martyrs’ Day ceremonies during her earlier periods of house arrest, the current junta has systematically isolated her since detaining her in February 2021. Although the regime recently claimed she had been transferred from Naypyidaw Prison to house confinement, her exact whereabouts, health status, and detention conditions remain unverified. The lack of transparency has fueled domestic and international "Proof of Life" campaigns demanding concrete evidence of her well-being. Following the military coup, the Nobel Peace Laureate faced 19 politically motivated charges resulting in a cumulative 35-year prison sentence. Through a series of partial pardons in 2023 and blanket sentence-reduction orders in early 2026, her remaining sentence has been reduced to nearly 19 years.