Crime & Justice

Myanmar junta suspends auction of Suu Kyi’s home due to lack of bidders

Bangkok, Mar 20 (EFE).- Myanmar’s military junta on Wednesday canceled the auction of jailed former leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s house due to a lack of bidders.

A source close to Suu Kyi’s lawyers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told EFE that an official initiated the bidding for the iconic house but had to postpone the auction as there were no bidders.

The two-storey house, where Suu Kyi spent 15 years under house arrest, was put for auction at a base price of 315 billion kyats, around $150 million, as per the official exchange rate.

The Myanmar authorities are now expected to lower the base price and hold another auction in April, the source said.

The auction, witnessed by a small group of officials and journalists, was held in front of Suu Kyi’s former house.

An officer announced the auction three times but received no response from the crowd.

Since there were no bidders, the officer said the auction would be held another day, and the matter would return to the court.

Myanmar’s top court, controlled by the military junta that came to power following a coup in 2021, ordered the auction of the iconic residence in January.

The property, on the shore of Inya Lake in the southern city of Yangon, has been under dispute for years between Suu Kyi and her brother, Aung San Oo.

The colonial-style house originally belonged to their father, Aung San, a hero of Myanmar’s independence, who was assassinated in 1947.

Her brother initiated a lawsuit in 2000 to claim ownership of the house but lost the case and has since sought the sale of the property to receive half of the proceeds.

Suu Kyi has resided in the house since 1988, where she lived with her husband and two children.

The residence has witnessed historic moments for Suu Kyi, including her 2007 address to protesters during the Saffron Revolution.

Throughout the years, the Nobel Peace Prize winner hosted notable figures at the house, including former US President Barack Obama in 2012, before her electoral victory in 2015.

Suu Kyi, 78, was imprisoned shortly after the February 2021 military coup, ending a decade of democratic transition in Myanmar and plunging the country into a deep political, social, and economic crisis.

The ousted leader is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence following an opaque judicial process that involved charges she has vehemently denied, including electoral fraud and violating state secrets.

Myanmar has been under military rule for most of its history since gaining independence in 1948. EFE

ak-grc/up/sc

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