Il Nuovo Postiglione - Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi marks 80th birthday in junta jail

Suu Kyi was the figurehead of Myanmar's decade-long democratic thaw, becoming de facto leader as it opened up from military rule.

But as the generals snatched back power in a 2021 coup, she was locked up on charges ranging from corruption to breaching Covid-19 pandemic restrictions and is serving a 27-year sentence.

"It will be hard to be celebrating at the moment," said her 47-year-old son Kim Aris from the UK.

"We've learned to endure when it's been going on so long."

He is running 80 kilometres (50 miles) over the eight days leading up to her birthday, and has collected over 80,000 well-wishing video messages for his mother.

But Suu Kyi will not see them, sequestered in Myanmar's sprawling capital Naypyidaw from where the military directs a civil war against guerilla fighters.

Aris said he has heard from his mother only once via letter two years ago since she was imprisoned.

"We have no idea what condition she's in," he said, adding that he fears she is suffering from untreated medical problems with her heart, bones and gums.

- 'Do you still remember?' -

No formal celebrations are planned in junta-held parts of Myanmar, but a gaggle of followers in military-controlled Mandalay city staged a spontaneous protest ahead of her birthday, local media said.

A few masked protestors showered a street with pamphlets reading "freedom from fear" and "happy birthday" as one member help up a portrait of Suu Kyi in shaky camera footage shared on social media.

"Do you still remember this great person?" asked one of the protestors in the video, which AFP has not been able to independently verify.

While Suu Kyi remains hugely popular in the majority Buddhist country, her status as a democracy icon abroad collapsed before the military takeover after she defended the generals in their crackdown against the Rohingya Muslim minority.

Hundreds of thousands were sent fleeing to neighbouring Bangladesh under her rule, though some argued she was powerless against the lingering influence of Myanmar's military.

Nonetheless institutions and figures that once showered Suu Kyi with awards rapidly distanced themselves, and her second round of imprisonment has received far less international attention.

- Locked away birthday -

Suu Kyi, the daughter of Myanmar independence hero Aung San, became a champion of democracy almost by accident.

After spending much of her youth abroad, she returned in 1988 to nurse her sick mother but began leading anti-military protests crushed by a crackdown.

She was locked up for 15 years, most of it in her family's Yangon lakeside mansion where she still drew crowds for speeches over the boundary wall.

The military offered freedom if she went into exile but her poised refusal thrust her into the spotlight and won her the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize.

Suu Kyi was released in 2010 and led her National League for Democracy party to electoral victory in 2015, never formally in charge as army-drafted rules kept her from the presidency.

If the octogenarian were released from her current incarceration, Aris predicts she would likely step back from a "frontline position" in Myanmar politics.

The military has promised new elections at the end of this year, but they are set to be boycotted by many groups comprised of former followers of Suu Kyi's non-violent vision who have now taken up arms.

S.Maiolo--INP