A TOP MYANMAR general on Sunday rejected repeated calls for the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, insisting that her ongoing trial was in line with its laws.
Major-General Aye Myint, Myanmar’s Deputy Minister of Defence said that the trial was a domestic issue and other countries should not interfere.He told delegates on the third and final day of the Shangri-La Dialogue, that ‘there was no option but to open legal proceedings in accordance with the law’.
‘If any country interferes in the internal affairs of another country, that particular act may possibly affect the mutual understanding and friendly relationship between countries,’ said Maj-Gen Myint.
Nobel laureate Suu Kyi is on trial on charges of violating her house arrest by allowing an American intruder to stay for two days after secretly swimming to her home in early May.
Maj-Gen Myint said: ‘She permitted him to stay…She communicated, provided him food and shelter.
‘There is no doubt that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has committed a cover-up of the truth by her failure to report an illegal immigrant to the authorities concerned.’
Ms Suu Kyi may be jailed for three to five years if found guilty of breaking the terms of her house arrest.
Calls for her release intensified during the three-day annual security conference. Yesterday, Britain’s Minister for International Defence and Security Ann Taylor pressed for political freedom in Myanmar.
‘The people of Burma have suffered for nearly half a century of conflict and isolation, but Aung San Suu Kyi is not alone,’ said Baroness Taylor, using the older name for Myanmar.
straitstimes
