E Myanmar ambassador to UK on trial for trespassing in diplomatic residence

Published 12 August 2026 · world

Myanmar’s ousted ambassador to the UK has gone on trial on trespassing charges for refusing to leave a diplomatic residence after being unceremoniously locked out

Myanmar’s ousted ambassador to the UK has gone on trial on trespassing charges for refusing to leave a diplomatic residence after being unceremoniously locked out of the embassy in 2021. Shortly after Myanmar’s military seized power in 2021, triggering mass protests that spiralled into a civil war, Kyaw Zwar Minn was locked out of the embassy for declaring his loyalty to the deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. On Wednesday he appeared in a London court charged with trespassing at a diplomatic residence between May 2021 and November 2024. Kyaw Zwar Minn, who still lives at the ambassador’s residence in north-west London, has pleaded not guilty. The former ambassador argues that the current president, Min Aung Hlaing, the general who plunged Myanmar into conflict and economic chaos, is illegitimate and had no power to ask him to leave the property. Min Aung Hlaing’s pro-military party won a landslide victory in elections earlier this year that have been widely condemned as a sham.

Min Aung Hlaing is wanted by the international criminal court for crimes against humanity against the Muslim Rohingya minority. Kyaw Zwar Minn’s lawyer, David Perry, told the court: “The military authorities could not lawfully terminate his licence at the address. Nor could they legitimately use the property.” View image in fullscreen Kyaw Zwar Minnu Kyi pictured in 2021. Photograph: Teri Pengilley/The Guardian Prosecutors said Myanmar’s authorities instructed the former ambassador to “hand over state-owned properties” in April 2021, and that the Foreign Office also told him to leave the residence, but he did not comply. They argue that his view of the Myanmar government – which is not formally recognised by most democratic countries, including Britain – does not provide a defence. “Having been granted permission to reside at Myanmar House as the ambassador, his refusal to vacate the diplomatic premises after he was removed from that position means that he is guilty of the offence of diplomatic trespass,” the prosecutor Louise Oakley told the court.

Kyaw Zwar Minn previously told the Guardian he spent a night in his car outside the embassy in April 2021 after his then deputy, Chit Win, and a military attache, Soe Aung, locked him out of the building on the regime’s orders. He said at the time that he no longer felt safe at the north London residence and had contacted the police after former staff delivered a letter ordering him to move. Friends and relatives in Myanmar had been forced into hiding fearing reprisals as a result of his stance, he said. skip past newsletter promotion Free newsletter | Every weekday Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters Enter your email Sign up after newsletter promotion The 68-year-old became a diplomat under Aung San Suu Kyi after a long career in the army and has called the “Rohingya issue” very important. Before his removal as ambassador, he had been told by a source in Myanmar’s foreign ministry that his staff were spying on him.