Extract from ABC News
Aung San Suu Kyi has been in detention since a military coup in 2021 ousted Myanmar's government. (Reuters: Athit Perawongmetha/File)
In short:
The jail sentence of Myanmar's imprisoned ex-leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been reduced.
It comes as thousands of prisoners are released, including the country's former president, Win Myint.
What's next?
The UN has called for the immediate release of Suu Ky and others "detained unjustly" since the 2021 coup.
The prison sentence of Myanmar's imprisoned ex-leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been reduced as her ally, former president Win Myint, is released from jail as part of a mass amnesty.
Suu Kyi was serving a 27-year sentence for a range of politically-motivated offences ranging from incitement and corruption to election fraud and violating a state secrets law.
But, as part of a widespread pardon, the 80-year-old's sentence has been cut by at least four years.
It is not clear whether the Nobel Peace Prize winner will be allowed to serve the rest of her sentence under house arrest or when she may be eligible for release.
Suu Kyi has not been seen in public since her trial ended and her whereabouts is unknown.
Released prisoners, in a bus, are welcomed by family members and colleagues after they left Insein Prison in Yangon, Myanmar, Friday, April 17, 2026, following Myanmar President's amnesty to mark the country's traditional new year. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw) (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)
All people in Myanmar serving a jail term under 40 years had their sentence reduced by one-sixth on Friday - in a move ordered by the country's coup leader and newly-elected President Min Aung Hlaing.
He also ordered the release of more than 4,500 prisoners including Suu Kyi's ally, Win Myint, who served as Myanmar's president from 2018 until the 2021 military coup.
Myint was "granted a pardon and the reduction of his remaining sentences under specified conditions", Myanmar's state broadcaster MRTV reported.
Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint (left) have both been in jail since the 2021 military coup. (AP: Aung Shine Oo/File)
While Myint occupied the top spot, it functioned as a ceremonial role because Suu Kyi was barred from holding the presidency under a military-drafted constitution.
The 2021 coup plunged the southeast Asian country into civil war.
UN rights chief Volker Turk was relieved by the "long overdue release" of Win Myint but called for the immedate release of Suu Kyi.
"All those detained unjustly since the coup -- including state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi -- need to be released immediately and unconditionally," he said on X.
"There must be an end to the unrelenting violence against all of Myanmar's people."
Amnesties typically take place in Myanmar each year to mark Independence Day in January and New Year in April.
2025 deadliest year for Rohingya refugees
While Suu Kyi remains a wildly popular figure, her reputation did suffer when she defended Myanmar's militiary at the International Court of Justice against allegations of ethnic cleansing towards Rohingya people.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people have fled war-torn Myanmar for Bangladesh and other countries.
New figures released by the United Nations showed last year was the deadliest on record for Rohingya refugees fleeing by sea, with deaths continuing to soar in 2026.
"In 2025, nearly 900 Rohingya refugees were reported missing or dead in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal," the United Nations refugee agency's spokesman Babar Baloch said.
Mr Baloch said that equated to one in seven Rohingya people trying to take the journey ending up missing or dead which was "the highest mortality rate worldwide of any major route for refugee and migrant sea journeys".
Rohingya people mainly leave from huge camps in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar where more than a million refugees have fled to from war-torn Myanmar.
The UN estimated 200,000 Rohingya refugees had taken that dangerous sea crossing since 2012.
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