Thousands mourn Muslim lawyer in Myanmar

A legal adviser for Myanmar's ruling National League for Democracy and a close aide of Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi has been shot dead.

This Feb. 28, 2016, photo ahows Ko Ni, a legal adviser for Myanmar's ruling National League for Democracy and a prominent member of Myanmar's Muslim minority

This Feb. 28, 2016, photo ahows Ko Ni, a legal adviser for Myanmar's ruling National League for Democracy and a prominent member of Myanmar's Muslim minority Source: AP

Thousands of mourners have paid their respects to a legal adviser for Myanmar's ruling National League for Democracy party who was shot dead outside Yangon international airport.

Huge crowds gathered inside a mosque at Myanmar's Muslim cemetery on Monday for a funeral service honouring lawyer U Ko Ni, one of few prominent Muslims in the Buddhist-majority country.

Ko Ni was shot dead by a gunman at Yangon International Airport on Sunday while waiting for a car to pick him up after arriving from a work trip abroad, according to police reports.

A taxi driver who tried to stop the gunman was also reportedly killed before the attacker was arrested.

Ko Ni was part of an official delegation that had travelled to Indonesia to gather information on the Indonesian reconciliation process.

His assassination comes at a time of heightened tensions amid a military operation in the western state of Rakhine, which is home to thousands of Rohingya Muslims.

The military has been accused of widespread human rights abuses in the area, including violence, arbitrary arrests and the burning of villages.

In a statement on Twitter, UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Yanghee Lee, who met U Ko Ni during her last visit, expressed her condolences and said: "All responsible people must be brought to justice."

The prominent lawyer was a highly respected figure in Myanmar. He served as a legal adviser to the NLD and was known as an outspoken opponent of the military-drafted constitution.

U Ko Ni, a Muslim, also criticised a package of laws deemed discriminatory to the country's Muslim minority in 2015.

The NLD on Sunday condemned the crime as a "terrorist act."


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Source: AAP


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