Sean Turnell, the detained Australian professor and key economic adviser to ousted Myanmar leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, remains in Yangon’s Insein Prison, despite a claim by Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen that he had been released on Sunday.
Turnell was arrested on February 6 last year, a few days after the coup, and charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act.
Confusion arose on Monday when Hun Sen wrongly announced that Professor Turnell had been released on Sunday. The Cambodian PM had lobbied coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to free him during his visit to Naypyitaw last month, at the request of Australia’s foreign minister.
