Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi leaves the stage after speaking at a memorial ceremony to mark one month from the killing of Ko Ni, prominent legal adviser to the government, and taxi driver Ne Win by a gunman at Yangon International airport, Sunday, Feb.26, 2017, in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)
February 26, 2017 - 6:01 AM
YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Sunday broke a month-long silence to describe the assassination of one of her top legal advisers as a great loss for the country.
She spoke at a memorial ceremony for lawyer Ko Ni and Nay Win, a taxi driver who was killed as he chased the gunman in the Jan. 29 incident.
Suu Kyi had been criticized for not making a public statement on the loss of Ko Ni, who was a key adviser to her National League for Democracy party as it seeks to wrest from the army its residual power in government.
"Losing Ko Ni is a big loss for the country and for our party, with which he stood together for many years, and it was an honour to have him in our party," Suu Kyi said in a speech.
Ko Ni, an expert in constitutional law, had criticized the military's interference in politics and advised Suu Kyi's party how to get around the constitutional clauses that the army imposed to ensure it retained significant powers that normally would be in the hands of the elected government.
Police said Saturday that they believed Ko Ni's killing was the result of a personal political grudge, seeking to dampen speculation of army involvement.
They arrested the gunman at the scene and two alleged plotters, and are seeking a fourth suspect. At least two of the suspected plotters, said by police to have been motivated by extreme nationalism, are retired military officers.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017