ASEAN envoy pleads to Myanmar junta to spare Aun San Suu Kyi prison

• Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn will visit Myanmar later this week.
• A special envoy pleaded with junta not to imprison deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
• She has been on trial for at least twenty crimes since coup against her elected government last year.

A special Southeast Asian envoy for the crisis in Myanmar pleaded with the country’s military rulers on Monday not to imprison deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, ahead of a visit later this week.

As part of the junta’s peace agreement with the ten-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn will embark on his second trip to Myanmar on Wednesday, as per a ministry spokesman (ASEAN).

Read more: Myanmar condemns ex-leader Aung San Suu Kyi imprisonment

Even though the 77-year-old had been convicted of several minor crimes, they kept him locked up in a secret place until last week.

In a letter to the junta, Prak Sokhonn begged for mercy.

According to a release, he wrote, “Aung San Suu Kyi is regarded internationally and by many in Myanmar as having a critical role in your country’s return to normalcy and national reconciliation through a peaceful political solution.”

In March, activists criticised Prak Sokhonn’s last visit as a failure that supported the junta and ignored its opponents, criticisms he acknowledged.

Read more: Aung San Suu Kyi accused of taking $600,000 and gold

“A peaceful political resolution to a conflict, no matter how complex it is, must involve the sharing of political space by all involved,” he continued.