BRITISH police are investigating Myanmar’s former ambassador to the United Kingdom for trespassing on a diplomatic residence in London that he has refused to leave since being ousted for opposing Myanmar’s 2021 military coup, his lawyer said.
Kyaw Zwar Minn was locked out of his embassy a few months after the February 2021 coup, and later replaced by the junta’s representatives, after calling for the release of Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Since his protest, praised by the British government at the time, Kyaw Zwar Minn has stayed at the northwest London ambassador’s residence, a mansion surrounded by razor wire and CCTV cameras.
He has refused to hand it back to the embassy which he says is now run by representatives of an illegitimate government.
Britain last year urged Kyaw Zwar Minn to leave the residence, citing pressure from the junta.
Earlier this week Kyaw Zwar Minn was interviewed by police over “an allegation that he trespassed on diplomatic premises,” said Neil Swift, his London-based lawyer at Peters & Peters.
The offence carries a punishment of up to six months in prison or a fine or both.
“The ambassadorial residence remains the property of the Union of Myanmar, and my client has always maintained that he is more than happy to hand over the keys to a representative of the democratically elected government of Myanmar, should they ask him to do so,” Swift said.
Myanmar’s embassy in London, Britain’s Foreign Office and London’s Metropolitan Police did not respond to requests for comment. Kyaw Zwar Minn was interviewed by police on Aug 15 but charges have not yet been brought, according to Swift.
Britain’s attorney general will have to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to charge him, he said.
If charges are brought, the case risks becoming politically heated given Britain’s previous support of Kyaw Zwar Minn and the sanctions it has heaped on the junta since the coup and a bloody crackdown on opponents that has triggered a resistance movement. — Reuters
