Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, who is also ASEAN’s special envoy to Myanmar, said Prime Minister Hun Sen had requested the release of Australian professor Sean Turnell during his highly controversial visit to Myanmar.
The request was made on behalf of Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, who had asked Hun Sen to request Turnell’s release when meeting with General Min Aung Hlaing, who ousted Aung San Suu Kyi and her elected government in a coup on Feb. 1 last year.
“In response to a written request from Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne addressed to premier Hun Sen, the latter has conveyed the message to Myanmar regarding the detention of an Australian professor in Myanmar,” Prak Sokhonn said.
“In response, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing accepted the premier’s request in a positive manner.”
Turnell, an economist, was a senior adviser to Suu Kyi and was detained by authorities four days after the coup and charged with violating Myanmar’s immigration and official secrets acts by trying to leave with sensitive financial information.
His case has been a high priority for the Australian government, which has been accused of going soft on the junta so as not to compromise efforts to obtain his freedom.
Hun Sen has been sharply rebuked for making the trip in the first place, so it’s a case of wait and see in regard to Turnell
In a separate statement reported by the official Agence Kampuchea Press, Min Aung Hlaing also told Hun Sen that Turnell’s case was still before the courts but pledged to provide a positive reply once the court process was finalized.
“It was a bold move by the Australians to engage Hun Sen,” said one analyst who declined to be named. “Hun Sen has been sharply rebuked for making the trip in the first place, so it’s a case of wait and see in regard to Turnell.”
Reports say Turnell has been unable to meet privately with his lawyer since being charged alongside Suu Kyi, her finance ministers Kyaw Win and Soe Win, and deputy minister Set Aung with violating the official secrets act.
The charge was filed against all five defendants in Eastern Yangon District Court last April under a law which punishes the possession or sharing of information deemed “useful to an enemy” of the state.
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The colonial-era statute criminalizes the possession, collection, recording, publishing or sharing of state information that is “directly or indirectly, useful to an enemy.”
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the coup and Prak Sokhonn has described the country’s outlook as dire, warning all the ingredients for a civil war were now on the table.
“There are now two governments, there are several armed forces, people are undergoing what they call the civil disobedience movement and [there is] guerrilla warfare around the country,” he said.
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