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Australia Urged to Intensify Efforts to Help Jailed Academic in Myanmar

Phil Mercer

   SYDNEY - Australia isfacing renewed calls to introduce fresh sanctions
   on the military government in Myanmar to help free a Sydney
   academic.Sean Turnell, an economic adviser to theSoutheast Asian
   nation's ousted de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi,remainsin prison after
   being arrested earlier this year.

   Colleagues and associates regard Australian academic Sean Turnell as a
   devoted friend to the people of Myanmar.

   He grew up in Macquarie Fields, a working-class suburb of Sydney. His
   first job was at the Reserve Bank of Australia at age 19.He said his
   "great passion was money and banking."He later became an academic at
   Macquarie University,specializingin research on the Myanmar economy.

   He is a professor of economics and the highly regarded author ofFiery
   Dragons, ahistory of the financial sector in Myanmar.He has
   alsoadvisedthe United StatesCongress on theSoutheast Asian nation.

   Turnell has been an adviser to various international
   agencies.Hisexpertiseand dedication caught the attention of Aung San
   Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar's National League for
   Democracyparty.Turnell has been a long-serving economicaidetoSuu
   Kyi.Both were arrested following February's military takeover in
   Myanmar.They havereportedly beencharged with breaking the country's
   official secrets law.

   Earlier this year, hundreds of academics signed a petition demanding
   his release, describing Turnell as the "nicest human you will ever
   meet." His wife,Ha Vu,is also an academic at Macquarie University.She
   said she was "distraught" about his detention.His family said he had
   "fallen in love" with Myanmar.

   The military crackdown against the pro-democracy movement is reported
   to have killed more than 800 people.Several thousand people have been
   arrested.

   Australiahas beencriticized for not doing enough to secure Turnell's
   release.

   The Australian Council for International Development, an umbrella
   organization for international aid agencies, has saidthatwhile the
   United States, Britain,Canadaand the European Union have imposed
   sanctions on senior Myanmar military officials since February, Canberra
   has not.

   Tim Harcourt, a friend of Turnell's and an economist at the University
   of Technology Sydney, believes Turnell is being treated well in prison.

   "I understand it that Sean has been allowed to talk to his wife and he
   is reasonably healthy and getting along with all the guards and things.
   But obviously the legal situation is notrealgood,"Harcourt said.

   There has been no comment from AustralianForeignMinister Marise
   Payne.She haspreviously called for Turnell's release, describing him as
   a "highly regarded member of the academic community in Australia."

   Myanmar,formerly known as Burma,was controlled by a repressive military
   government from 1962 to 2011.

   A government effectively led by Suu Kyi came to power after elections
   in 2015.

   Myanmar has a population of about57 million people.It borders the
   Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal,between Thailand and Bangladesh.

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