In a rare interview with Time magazine, Myanmar's military leader, Min Aung Hlaing, declined to commit to the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been in detention since the military coup in February 2021. Suu Kyi faces a total of 35 years in prison on charges she claims are fabricated and politically motivated. She has been largely isolated from the outside world, with her only known contact being a letter to her son more than two and a half years ago. Min Aung Hlaing claimed he has been "extremely lenient" toward Suu Kyi and suggested her potential release "depends on her." He added that the situation could change if "grounds for reconsideration emerge on our part." He also reiterated his claim that the 2020 elections, which Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won, were fraudulent. However, both local and international election observers have described the vote as largely free and fair. This interview was Min Aung Hlaing's first with a Western news outlet. The Myanmar government criticized the Time article, stating it did not accurately reflect the interview and included additional commentary and analyses not part of the original exchange. The government has consistently denied allegations of election fraud and has defended the military's actions as necessary for stability. In response to Suu Kyi's continued detention, her son, Kim Aris, delivered a new appeal to the Myanmar embassy in London. He described keeping Suu Kyi in prison at her age as equivalent to an execution and urged the world to prevent democracy from being "snuffed out." A documentary highlighting Suu Kyi's struggle was released by The Independent in December 2024. Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, and her son accepted the award on her behalf when she was under house arrest.