His lawyer told Reuters that British police are investigating the former Myanmar ambassador to the United Kingdom for trespassing at the residence of a diplomat in London who has refused to leave since he was expelled for resisting the military coup in Myanmar in 2021.
Kyaw Zwar Min was expelled from his embassy a few months after the February 2021 coup and subsequently replaced by representatives of the military junta after calling for the release of Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Since his protest, which was applauded by the British government at the time, Kyaw Zwar Min has been staying at the ambassador’s residence in northwest London, a mansion surrounded by barbed wire and security cameras. He refused to return his house to the British government. He has refused to return it to the embassy, which he says is now run by representatives of an illegitimate government.
Reuters reported that Britain last year urged Kyaw Zwar Min to leave his residence under pressure from the military council.
Earlier this week, Kyaw Zwar Min was questioned by police over “allegations that he was involved in diplomatic pursuits,” said Neil Swift, his London-based solicitor at Peters & Peters. This offense is punishable by up to six months imprisonment, a fine, or both.
“The ambassador’s residence remains the property of the Union of Myanmar, and my clients have always assured that he is more than willing to hand over the keys to a representative of Myanmar’s democratically elected government if asked,” Swift told Reuters. .
Myanmar’s embassy in London, the British Foreign Office and the London Metropolitan Police did not respond to requests for comment.
Kyaw Zwar Min was questioned by police on August 15, Swift said, but no charges have yet been filed. He said it would be up to the UK’s attorney general to determine if there was enough evidence to charge him.
If charges are pressed, the matter risks turning into a political heathen, given Britain’s past support for Kyaw Zwar Min and the sanctions it has imposed on the junta since the coup and the bloody crackdown on dissent in which the army is fighting over many opponents. fronts.
“It is inconceivable that the British authorities, who have condemned the coup and imposed economic sanctions on the generals, would allow such a move by the illegitimate junta,” said Chris Gunness of the Myanmar Human Rights Accountability Project.
Britain is among Western countries that have called for the restoration of democracy in Myanmar and imposed sanctions on Myanmar’s military personnel and some of its business interests.
Deposed Myanmar politicians who fled arrest after the coup and other pro-democracy allies formed the National Unity Government (NUG), a parallel government allied with Suu Kyi.
Most democratic countries, including Britain, have not formally recognized a national unity government or military junta.
But in July 2021, Myanmar’s junta appointed a new interim head of its embassy in London, a move that did not require British government approval under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
