Myanmar’s deputy foreign minister yesterday rejected Asian and European “pressure and interference” over the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, saying it was neither a political nor a human rights issue.
Speaking at a meeting of ASEAN and EU ministers in the Cambodian capital, Burmese Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Myint said the charges against the pro-democracy icon were an “internal legal issue.”
“It is not political, it is not a human rights issue. So we don’t accept pressure and interference from abroad,” the official told his counterparts.
“I expect that the excellencies from abroad, especially the EU, can understand more about Myanmar,” he said.
The minister’s remarks on live video appeared to have been accidentally broadcast to reporters at the press center outside the closed-door meetings.
Aung San Suu Kyi faces up to five years in jail on charges of breaching her house arrest after an eccentric US man swam to her lakeside house in Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city.
The statement, one of the strongest yet from the military regime, came as ASEAN and European ministers opened talks in Phnom Penh with pledges to boost ties with the Myanmar issue looming in the background.
Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong had said in a speech that the meetings would “mark another milestone for expanding and deepening” relations between ASEAN and the EU.
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen echoed his sentiments during the opening ceremony, but officials indicated Myanmar would likely take up much of the agenda.
The meetings in Phnom Penh were also set to cover issues ranging from the global financial crisis to energy and food security.
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