BURMA’S de facto leader Aung
San Suu Kyi has broken her month-long silence on the assassination of her
advisor and friend, calling him a “martyr” of the country’s struggle for
democracy.
U Ko Ni was a prominent
Muslim lawyer and activist who had been a vocal critic of Burma’s military and
their remaining political influence. He was shot in the back of the head at
point blank on Jan 29, 2017 outside Yangon airport.
Taxi driver, Ne Win, was
also killed while trying to stop the gunman, who was arrested at the scene.
Suu Kyi has so far remained
silent following the death of her close friend but, speaking at a memorial
service for the two victims, she expressed the “great loss” that the party had
suffered.
“Losing U Ko Ni is a great
loss for our NLD (National League of Democracy). He worked together with us for
many years through his beliefs,” she said, as reported by AFP (via Mizzima).
SEE ALSO: Burma: Prominent lawyer’s assassination due to ‘extreme patriotism’
– Minister
https://asiancorrespondent.com/2017/02/burma-prominent-lawyers-assassination-due-extreme-patriotism/
Ko Ni was a respected
constitutional expert and prominent critic of the Burmese military’s
involvement in the political process.
As a prominent member of
Burma’s Muslim minority, Ko Ni was vocal in his condemnation of rising
Islamophobia in the country. His opposition and criticism often made him the
target of threats against his life.
“My father was often
threatened and we were warned to be careful, but my father didn’t accept that
easily. He always did what he thought was right,” Ko Ni’s daughter Yin Nwe
Khine said following the shooting.
On Feb 25, Burmese officials
announced the findings to their month-long investigation into the death and
determined that the motivation behind the killing was “extreme patriotism.”
“When we were investigating,
we discovered it was a case of patriotism. This extreme patriotism … killed [U
Ko Ni], according to our findings,” Home Affairs Minister Lt. Gen. Kyaw Swe
said, as quoted by Frontier Myanmar.
 |
Myanmar’s Home Affairs
Minister Kyaw Swe speaks to the media during a news conference regarding the
killing of Ko Ni, a lawyer advising the ruling National League for Democracy
(NLD) party, in Yangon, Myanmar February 25, 2017. Source: Reuters/Soe Zeya Tun
SEE ALSO: Burma: Govt. must seek justice for death of prominent Muslim lawyer
Suu Kyi very rarely makes
public appearances, but her silence on the matter had surprised some observers
and fed the opinion that her administration has taken a bunker mentality since
taking office back in May.
The de facto leader is
seldom seen making speeches or releasing statements and has remained quiet as
the country faces a series of crises, including clashes between the military
and ethnic rebels in the northern states, and alleged “crimes against humanity”
and ethnic cleansing towards the Muslim Rohingya minority in Rakhine province.
There was no mention of
politics at the Sunday memorial service but Suu Kyi did appeal for patience and
asked that people allow her administration the time to make the political and
humanitarian inroads they have promised.
“Our citizens who have been
struggling hard for many decades may think it’s a very long time. But for the
history of a country, for the history of a government, 10 months or one year is
not much. This is just a short period,” she said.