YANGON (Myanmar), Sept 23 — Myanmar’s coup leader turned civilian president Min Aung Hlaing said in an interview published today he has been “extremely lenient” on Aung San Suu Kyi, who he ousted and jailed in 2021.

Min Aung Hlaing ordered the military putsch that toppled the Nobel Peace Prize laureate’s democratic government, claiming she won power through massive voter fraud in elections the previous year.

Suu Kyi remains detained on charges rights groups say were confected to return power to the military, which has historically ruled Myanmar since independence.

“I have been extremely lenient toward her,” Min Aung Hlaing said, according to an interview with US magazine Time.

“We made every possible effort to prevent the situation from reaching this point.”

Min Aung Hlaing retired as military chief to become civilian president in April, following elections derided by rights groups as a charade.

He has since been on a diplomatic push to end Myanmar’s international pariah status, but many nations remain concerned about the 81-year-old Suu Kyi.

Analysts say Min Aung Hlaing is using the prospect of loosening her detention to entice countries into engaging — despite a raging civil war challenging his rule.

Just days before he made a landmark trip to Thailand in August, his office released rare photos showing Suu Kyi meeting with a senior Red Cross official.

The possibility of an amnesty for Suu Kyi “depends on her”, the president told Time, but hinted the situation may change if “grounds for reconsideration emerge on our part”.

Min Aung Hlaing personally ordered Suu Kyi be moved from jail to house arrest in the capital Naypyidaw in April, as he prepared to make his push for international recognition.

The December-January election installing Min Aung Hlaing was tightly controlled by his junta, sidelined Suu Kyi’s party and punished dissenters with prison time.

Analysts described his nominally civilian administration as a proxy of the military.

“There are various forms of democracy,” Min Aung Hlaing said in the Time interview.

“There is American democracy, there is European democracy. I will ensure that Myanmar achieves a democratic system that truly aligns with our own culture, customs, and traditions.” — AFP