NAYPYIDAW (TIP): Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned the head of mission at the German embassy in the country over a Facebook video calling for authorities to “unconditionally release” ousted politicians such as former leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that Mathias Licharz in the video “appeared to fuel opposition to the host country and its Government, thereby inciting internal unrest”. Licharz met Deputy Foreign Minister Ko Ko Kyaw, was “warned against the video” and handed an aide- memoire, the ministry said. “The Deputy Minister strongly warned against recurrence of such act and informed him that any similar conduct would be treated with utmost seriousness and would take appropriate actions,” the ministry said. Licharz posted the video on Sunday, standing outside the former Yangon residence of Win Myint, the figurehead president of Aung San Suu Kyi‘s government that was removed in a 2021 coup. The German diplomat said in his message, marking Win Myint’s 75th birthday, that the United Nations still regards him as the “legitimate president” of Myanmar. In the video, he called for authorities to “unconditionally release all those who are arbitrarily detained, including Win Myint and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi” – using the affectionate term by which Aung San Suu Kyi‘s supporters refer to her.
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