UK condemns Myanmar army's London embassy takeover

LONDON

Britain on Thursday denounced the “bullying actions of the Myanmar military regime” following yesterday’s eviction of the ambassador from the embassy building in London.

“We condemn the bullying actions of the Myanmar military regime in London yesterday, and I pay tribute to Kyaw Zwar Minn for his courage,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab wrote on Twitter, referring to the ambassador.

“The UK continues to call for an end to the coup and the appalling violence, and a swift restoration of democracy,” he added.

Myanmar’s ambassador in London said Wednesday that he had been kicked out of the embassy building by the country’s military attaché.

Zwar Minn said the embassy staff were asked to leave the building by a representative of Myanmar's military in the UK and he was told he was no longer the country's representative.

The ambassador said he was locked out when he spoke to local media, describing the incident as "a kind of coup, in the middle of London.”

He said: “This a coup. This is the UK. We are not in Myanmar, in Burma. They are not able to do this. The British government won’t allow this one, you’ll see that.”

Zwar Minn had declared his opposition to the coup and issued a statement demanding the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, de facto leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) ruling party, and civilian leaders.

He also met with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to condemn the atrocities by Myanmar’s military. The country’s state TV said he was being recalled for releasing an unauthorized statement.

At least 581 people in Myanmar have been killed since the country’s military seized control on Feb. 1, according to a Myanmar-based civil rights group.

As of April 6, a total of 2,750 people were in detention and 38 of them had been sentenced, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).

Myanmar’s military seized power on Feb. 1, ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and ending the country’s brief experiment with democratic rule.

In response to the coup, civilian groups across the country launched a civil disobedience campaign with mass demonstrations and sit-ins.​​​​​​​