Australian PM Praises ASEAN Chair over Release of Professor Turnell

The Hon Anthony Albanese MP, Prime Minister of Australia, has appreciated Cambodia, the ASEAN Chair, for having lobbied for the release of Professor Sean Turnell, former economic policy advisor to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
“I do want to thank … our ASEAN friends, in particular, PM Hun Sen of Cambodia who has chaired ASEAN and has kept the pressure on … But other friends in ASEAN, who’ve been so consistent about the need to release Professor Turnell,” the Australian Premier was quoted as saying at a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand on Nov. 17.
Professor Sean Turnell has been recently released along with other political prisoners including Mr. Kyaw Tint Swe, former Minister for the Office of the State Counsellor; Mrs. Lei Lei Maw, former Chief Minister of Tanintharyi Region; Mr. Mya Aye, 8888 generation for pro-democracy activist; Dr. Myo Nyunt, member of the central executive committee and spokesperson of the National League for Democracy (NLD); U Thein Oo, NLD central executive committee member; U Kyaw Ho, NLD legal advisor; Professor U Maung Tha Cho; Ven. Shwe Nya War Sayadaw; Mrs. Vicky Bowman, United Kingdom’s former Ambassador to the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, and her spouse; Mr. Toru Kubota, Japanese journalist and film producer; and Mr. Kyaw Htay Oo, a U.S. Citizen.
The Special Envoy of the Chair of ASEAN on Myanmar has issued a statement welcoming the recent mass release of prisoners by the State Administrative Council of Myanmar, considering it as an important gesture in the right direction to create a conducive environment for the commencement of a dialogue process among all concerned parties in Myanmar.
It is a sign of good will in pursuing a peaceful solution to the current crisis, and a positive development in line with the spirit and aspiration of the Five-Point Consensus reached at the ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting on April 24, l 2021, the Special Envoy added.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press