Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is believed to be just hours away from being freed after spending the last seven years under house arrest.

There are unconfirmed reports that the country’s military rulers have signed an order authorising her release from house arrest, where she has spent 15 out of the last 21 years.

It is suspected that the military junta are releasing the 65-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner to divert attention from last week’s elections, which were condemned as a sham by pro-democracy and human rights groups, including Christian Solidarity Worldwide.

Supporters believe Suu Kyi will ignore a ban on engaging in political activity and meet with leaders of her party, the National League for Democracy, before deciding what she will do next.

While some supporters believe her release will usher in a new era for Burma, Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, said it would be “wrong” to attach too much political significance to her release.

“She has been released twice before without there being any political change in the country,” he said.

“It is more likely that the dictatorship will try to use her release to attempt to persuade the international community to relax pressure on them.

“However, the number of political prisoners has almost doubled in the past three years. If they release all or the majority of political prisoners along with Aung San Suu Kyi, then this could be the start of something with broader political significance.”

Rumours of Suu Kyi’s release have been bolstered by reports that her youngest son Kim Aris has been granted a visa to Burma to visit his mother – something her husband, British academic Michael Aris, was denied when he was dying of cancer in 1999.

Hundreds of supporters have gathered outside her home in anticipation of her release.