2017-01-30
Ko Ni, a Myanmar human
rights lawyer and advisor to the country's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi,
appears in an undated photo.
RFA
A prominent Muslim
human rights lawyer and advisor to Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi
was shot dead on Sunday at Yangon airport, prompting the country's president to
issue an appeal for calm in the Buddhist-majority country and a call to remain
watchful against agitation leading to religious disturbances.
Ko Ni, a 63-year-old
legal advisor to the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party that came
into power last April, was shot at close range in the back of the head while he
held his grandson outside the Yangon airport following a trip to Indonesia as
part of a Myanmar government delegation to discuss interfaith tolerance and
reconciliation.
Ko Ni was an outspoken
critic of anti-Muslim attitudes held by Myanmar’s Buddhist nationalists and the
country’s powerful military. He formally joined the NLD in October 2013, though
he had previously supported Aung San Suu Kyi’s party process and provided legal
advice.
The office of
President Htin Kyaw issued a statement on Monday saying the killing was meant
to disrupt peace and stability in the country and thanking citizens for helping
arrest of the gunman. It also requested that people remain calm.
“The initial interrogation
indicates the intention to destabilize the state,” said a translated copy of
the statement. “Investigations are being carried out by the government to find
out the truth. Security has been heightened in the aftermath of the
assassination.”
“This being so, people
are requested not to be stricken by panic and to stay quietly and peacefully,
to be careful of religious and racial incitements and inform authorities
concerned in case of finding evidence concerning this case of assassination and
actions aimed at destabilizing the state.”
Ko Ni’s murder comes
as the country grapples with a crisis in the northern part of its volatile
Rakhine state where a crackdown by Myanmar security forces on Rohingya Muslims
since October left about 90 people dead and forced more than 65,000 villagers
to flee to safety in neighboring Bangladesh.
The Rohingya have
accused the military of indiscriminate killings, rape, torture and arson during
the security operations, though both the Myanmar government and army have
denied the allegations.
A taxi driver who
tried to detain the killer was also shot dead, and the gunman was arrested at
the scene. The motive of Ko Ni’s murder remains unknown.
“His daughter ran and
grabbed the child and screamed out, “Father, Father,’” said Tin Hlaing, an
ethnic Rakhine town elder from the Rakhine capital Sittwe who was on the
Indonesia trip with Ko Ni.
“The gunman retreated
20 or 30 steps, yelled out not to come near him, and ran when the taxi driver
gave chase,” he told RFA’s Myanmar Service.
Tin Hlaing said that
he, Ko Ni, and the other members of the government delegation were in Indonesia
to learn about its policies and laws to forge peace between Muslims and
Christian following clashes in the Maluku Islands in the late 1990s.
Military and NLD comment
The office of Min Aung
Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the country’s defense services, said in a
statement that it will cooperate with security personnel at Yangon
International Airport in Mingaladon, 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) north of
downtown Yangon, to investigate the case. The office also expressed condolences
to the family of the deceased.
The NLD issued a
statement condemning the violent murder and described Ko Ni’s death as an
irreplaceable loss for Aung San Suu Kyi and the party because he unfailingly
provided necessary legal advice and suggestions to the party chairman.
The NLD also applauded
taxi driver Ne Win, a 42-year-old member of NLD’s Mingaladon branch, who was
shot by the gunman while trying to capture him.
Win Htein, a member of
the NLD’s central executive committee, asked why Ko Ni in particular was
murdered.
“He always talked
about and supported efforts for the rule of law in the country, and he couldn’t
have had any bitter enemies,” he told RFA. “He’s irreplaceable for the NLD.
It’s a big loss.”
Win Htein also said
the lawyer’s murder could have been politically motivated.
NLD lawmaker May Win
Myint called the assassination “a blatant challenge to those of us who are
working for democracy.”
“I think they [the
perpetrators] are trying to show that they can do anything to anyone of us
anywhere,” she said.
Monywa Aung Shin, the
NLD’s information officer, took Myanmar authorities to task for not providing
adequate security measures to protect Ko Ni.
“Those responsible in
the government, parliament, and military should think hard and revamp their
security programs,” he said. “You can never tell if this kind of attack
wouldn’t have targeted other leaders.”
“Ko Ni was a brilliant
lawyer both political and legally for the NLD, and it is not difficult to
figure out why he was murdered,” he said.
Credit: RFA
