UK police question ousted Myanmar ambassador over residence row
- In 2021, diplomats close to the junta seized the embassy in London and refused access to Kyaw Zwar Minn, a supporter of Aung San Suu Kyi’s overthrown government
- The former envoy hasn’t left the ambassador’s residence since, and refuses to return it to his country’s representatives whose legitimacy he does not recognise
British police have questioned Myanmar’s ex-ambassador to London, stripped of his post by the military junta after a 2021 coup, over his refusal to leave a diplomatic residence, his lawyer said Saturday.
“On 15 August, my client was interviewed by the police about an allegation that he trespassed on diplomatic premises, namely the ambassadorial residence in which he has lived since he became ambassador to the UK in 2013,” said Neil Swift, lawyer for Kyaw Zwar Minn.
In April 2021, diplomats close to the junta seized the embassy in central London and refused access to Kyaw Zwar Minn, a supporter of Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government which was overthrown by a coup in February that year.
At the time, the British government indicated that it would offer its protection to the ousted ambassador.
The British foreign minister at the time, Dominic Raab, condemned “the bullying actions of the Myanmar military regime in London” and paid tribute to Kyaw Zwar Minn for his “courage”.
