Sean Turnell, Australian advisor to Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi, ‘should be freed immediately’

The wife of Dr Sean Turnell has described the academic as someone who “brought jobs, investment, and hope” to Myanmar, while begging for his freedom.

Australian economist Sean Turnell with Aung San Suu Kyi. Handout

The family of an Australian academic detained in Myanmar have described Dr Sean Turnell as “warm and kind-hearted” while pleading for his release.

“We are distraught that Dr Sean Turnell, our beloved family member and an internationally respected academic, has been detained in Myanmar,” Turnell’s wife, Dr Ha Vu, said in a statement.

“Sean Turnell is a dedicated family man, beloved of his wife and daughter, his dad and his sister and her family, as well as to an extended family in Australia and in Vietnam.

“He is warm and kind-hearted, generous, and always thinks about others before himself. Even now, wherever he is confined, we know that his thoughts and concerns are with those worrying about him,” Dr Vu said.

Dr Turnell, who was serving as an economic policy advisor to Aung San Suu Kyi when Myanmar’s military seized power last week, was placed under house arrest at his hotel before being taken in by police for questioning and arrested on Saturday.

Dr Vu described her husband as someone who “will always use his expertise and experience for a good cause.”

She continued, “Myanmar is a country with which he has fallen in love, and through working on and for it for more than two decades, he brought jobs, investment, and hope to many of the poorest people there without thought of reward or concern for his own advantage.”

Dr Sean Turnell with his wife, Dr Ha Vu. Picture: Facebook

CALLS GROW FOR TURNELL RELEASE

International calls are growing for the release of Professor Sean Turnell, the detained Australian economic advisor to Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Prof Turnell, from Sydney’s Macquarie University, is the first known foreigner who has been arrested since the military coup last Monday.

Prof Turnell, a Professor of Economics/Economic Adviser, told Reuters: “I guess you will soon hear of it, but I am being detained,” he said in a message to the bureau, signed with a smile emoji.

“Being charged with something, but not sure what. I am fine and strong, and not guilty of anything.”

Thanks everyone for your concern yesterday. Safe for now but heartbroken for what all this means for the people of Myanmar. The bravest, kindest people I know. They deserve so much better. pic.twitter.com/RA2YvCOEF7

— sean turnell (@SeanTurnell) February 1, 2021

US academic Matthew Smith demanded the Australian be released immediately.

“In the midst of attempting to disconnect the people of #Myanmar from the outside world & each other, the junta reportedly arrested friend & colleague Sean Turnell. The junta should immediately & unconditionally release him & all others arbitrarily detained,” tweeted Harvard University fellow Professor Smith.

In the midst of attempting to disconnect the people of #Myanmar from the outside world & each other, the junta reportedly arrested friend & colleague Sean Turnell. The junta should immediately & unconditionally release him & all others arbitrarily detained https://t.co/rFZq4nrQjt

— Matthew Smith (@matthewfsmith) February 6, 2021

Another supporter, University of Michigan academic Professor Dan Slater, said Prof Turnell was “utterly devoted to helping #Myanmar’s people improve their lives after five decades of military misrule”.

Prof Slater tweeted: “As is so often the case in #SoutheastAsia, the jailed love the nation and its people so much better than their jailers.”

My friend @SeanTurnell is utterly devoted to helping #Myanmar's people improve their lives after five decades of military misrule. As is so often the case in #SoutheastAsia, the jailed love the nation and its people so much better than their jailers.https://t.co/cd0sR83veD

— Dan Slater (@SlaterPolitics) February 6, 2021

Prof Turnell told BBC Radio he was not free to move around.

“Everyone is being very polite, but obviously I’m not free to move or anything like that,” he said.

“Just told that I wouldn’t be allowed to leave, and to have a seat, and so on. Everyone was being, as I say, very polite, but it was clear that I couldn’t go anywhere.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne issued a statement saying she was concerned about reports of Australians being detained in Myanmar.

“The Australian Government is deeply concerned about reports of Australian and other foreign nationals being detained arbitrarily in Myanmar,” she said.

“We are providing consular assistance to a number of Australians in Myanmar. In particular, we have serious concerns about an Australian who has been detained at a police station.

“We have called in the Myanmar Ambassador and registered the Australian Government’s deep concern about these events.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

“The Australian Embassy in Yangon continues to contact Australians in Myanmar to ascertain their safety, to the extent that communications allow.”

Prof Turnell is the director of the Myanmar Development Institute. His LinkedIn profile states he had been living in Myanmar’s capital, Naypyitaw while serving as a consultant to the country’s former leader.

The news comes as thousands took to the streets of Yangon on Saturday to denounce the coup and demand Ms Suu Kyi’s release.

Myanmar has also lost access to Twitter, the latest move to stifle dissent as the military widened an internet ban days after the coup drew global condemnation and the threat of new sanctions.

Ms Suu Kyi was detained Monday and ousted from power, returning the country to military rule after a 10-year dalliance with democracy.

A so-called Civil Disobedience Movement has gathered pace online, calling on the public to voice opposition every night by banging pots and clanging cymbals to show their anger.

Police in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second largest city, detained more than 20 people for banging pots and pans. They were sentenced Friday to seven days in prison for violating a public disorder law.

Australian economist Sean Turnell with Aung San Suu Kyi. Picture: supplied

Another four university students from Mandalay were charged Friday for protesting at a small rally the day before without permission and breaking coronavirus rules.

As they were escorted from court in chains, they flashed a defiant three-finger salute to the waiting media.

In Naypyitaw, dozens of employees from several government ministries posed for group photographs wearing red ribbons and flashing the democracy symbol.

Some 300 MPs also held a virtual meeting Friday to convene an unofficial “parliament committee” in defiance of military rule, according to the NLD.

The coup has drawn condemnation globally.

On Thursday, US President Biden reiterated his call for the generals to reverse course.

“The Burmese military should relinquish power they have seized, release the advocates and activists and officials they have detained, lift the restrictions in telecommunications, and refrain from violence,” he said.

US President Joe Biden. Picture: AFP

His National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan also said the White House was “looking at specific targeted sanctions” on military-linked entities.

The UN Security Council took a softer line, voicing “deep concern” — a step down from a draft Tuesday that had condemned the coup.

Diplomats said veto-wielding China and Russia, Myanmar’s main supporters at the UN, had asked for more time Tuesday to finesse the council’s response.