Stormont should demand freedom for Aung San Suu Kyi, that brave champion of democracy

The Northern Ireland Assembly has a moral obligation to protest in the strongest possible terms about the military coup in Myanmar and the detention of its elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

It was an Ulsterman, the first Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, who brought Burma into the British Empire in 1866. As many as 250,000 Burmese died alongside British forces during the Second World War.

The fourth Marquess of Dufferin and Ava was killed there in 1945 while seeking to persuade Japanese troops to surrender.

I had the privilege to hear Aung San Suu Kyi speak to Belfast school children in 2013 after she was released from two decades of house arrest.

All civilised people must demand freedom for this courageous champion of democracy and civil rights.

Maurice Neill, Bangor, Co Down

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