Irrawaddy-May 9
Myanmar’s junta on Wednesday denied a request by former Cambodian leader Hun Sen for talks with democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained since a 2021 coup. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has largely been hidden from view since the military detained her as they seized power in a putsch that has plunged the country into turmoil. The junta has rebuffed numerous requests by foreign leaders and diplomats to meet the Nobel laureate, 78, who has reportedly suffered health problems during more than three years in detention. On Tuesday Hun Sen, who ruled Cambodia for nearly four decades before stepping down last year, said he had requested a meeting with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi during video talks with junta chief Min Aung Hlaing. But the junta had “no reason to facilitate it at this moment”, junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said in an audio message released by the military’s information team. The military would hold promised and much-delayed fresh elections “without fail”, he said, without giving details. Since her detention Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s only known encounter with a foreign envoy came in July last year, when the then Thai foreign minister, Don Pramudwinai, said he had met her for over an hour. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is serving a 27-year sentence imposed by a junta court after a trial condemned by rights groups as a sham to shut her out of politics. The military launched its coup citing unsubstantiated claims of massive electoral fraud in 2020 elections won resoundingly by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD). It has pushed back a timetable to hold fresh polls several times. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/myanmars-crisis-the-world/myanmar-junta-rebuffs-hun-sens-request-to-meet-daw-aung-san-suu-kyi.html
