Around 50 human rights advocates and Burmese citizens demonstrated in front of the Myanmar Embassy in Phnom Penh Wednesday, calling for the release of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The peaceful demonstration coincided with a meeting of Asean foreign affairs ministers.
“We expect this meeting will discuss Aung San Suu Kyi’s case, and we are pushing the Burmese government to release not only Suu Kyi but also to release 2,000 political prisoners,” said Kek Galabru, president of rights group Licadho.
Police barred protesting from coming too close to the embassy, where they had planned to submit a petition. A police official accepted the petition without the presence of an embassy official instead.
Suu Kyi has been in detention for 13 of the past 19 years. The military junta in Burma, now called Myanmar, is conducting a hearing to decide whether her house arrest will be extended, following the bizarre visit of a US man to her home earlier this month.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman said the detention of the Nobel laureate was not on the agenda for Asean ministers.