Asean ministers deeply disappointed over Suu's detention

Yeo raised the prospect of Aung San Suu Kyi’s release, saying Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win reiterated the junta’s defence that it is legally permitted to hold a citizen for a year, and a further five years with cabinet consent.

“He told me that the six-year limit will come up in about half a year’s time,” he said.

Asked whether that meant she could be freed, he said: “I am just repeating to you what he told me and I think that is not an inaccurate inference.”

However, the ruling generals may not be bound by existing law as they consider Aung San Suu Kyi’s fate. In a decision they are unlikely to reverse, they extended the house arrest measure by one year in May.

The Nobel peace price winner has spent most of the past 18 years confined to her lakeside home in Yangon.