Aung San Suu Kyi's family has filed a protest with the United Nations on her detention in Myanmar

Myanmar's former leader Aung San Suu Kyi's relatives filed a complaint with a UN watchdog on Wednesday (May 25) over her arrest following a military coup last year, according to their attorneys.

The 76-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been held in military detention since a coup deposed her administration in February 2021, plunging Myanmar into chaos. She faces a slew of allegations that may land her in prison for more than 150 years.

Human rights lawyers Francois Zimeray and Jessica Finelle described the scenario as a "judicial kidnapping," and said they had filed a complaint on behalf of her relatives with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

The complaint, seen by AFP, stated that "her arrest was illegal, her incarceration was without legal justification, and her several trials violated the basic standards governing any legal proceeding."

"This is a kidnapping disguised as a trial; she is imprisoned incommunicado in defiance of all justice and fights back against inhumane psychological torture with tenacity."

"For Myanmar, this is a devastating reversal.
The entire Burmese population is muted by Aung Sang Suu Kyi's figure, and its democratic ambitions are destroyed."

Aung San Suu Kyi has been sentenced to a total of 11 years in prison after facing a series of "farcical charges," but stands the possibility of serving more than 100 years on 17 distinct offences, according to her defenders.

Aung San Suu Kyi was held under house arrest in her family's lakeside residence in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, during a former junta regime.