Myanmar’s ambassador to the UK – who didn’t support the military coup – was locked out of his embassy and had to spend the night in his car

• Kyaw Zwar Minn, Myanmar’s ambassador to the UK, said he was locked out of the embassy on Wednesday.
• Sources told Reuters that his deputy took over.
• Kyaw Zwar Minn had called for Myanmar’s civilian leader to be released after her detention in the coup.
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Myanmar’s ambassador to the UK, who did not support the military coup in the country, said he was locked out of the embassy on Wednesday night.

Sources told Reuters that his deputy had shut him out and taken over.

Kyaw Zwar Minn told Reuters: “It’s a kind of coup, in the middle of London … you can see that they occupy my building.”

The BBC’s Charlotte Wright said Kyaw Zwar Minn told her that he spent the night sleeping in his car outside the embassy.

The ambassador also said that embassy staff were being threatened with “severe punishment if they don’t continue to work for the military general,” the BBC reported.

Myanmar’s military staged a coup on February 1 after claiming voter fraud in its November 2020 election, and detained its leaders. Since then it has also cracked down on anti-coup protests and killed hundreds of demonstrators.

Kyaw Zwar Minn has called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the civilian leader that the military detained during the coup.

Dominic Raab, the UK’s foreign minister, said on Thursday: “We condemn the bullying actions of the Myanmar military regime in London yesterday, and I pay tribute to Kyaw Zwar Minn for his courage.”

“The UK continues to call for an end to the coup and the appalling violence, and a swift restoration of democracy.”

-Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) April 8, 2021