Brother sues Suu Kyi for half of house

YANGON, NOV 15: Aung San Suu Kyi has been sued by her brother for half ownership of her home in a new crisis for the pro-democracy leader ...

YANGON, NOV 15: Aung San Suu Kyi has been sued by her brother for half ownership of her home in a new crisis for the pro-democracy leader who for years has faced political harassment by the military government, sources said Wednesday.

Suu Kyi was subpoenaed to appear next Tuesday before the Yangon District Court to answer the suit filed by her U.S.-based elder brother, Aung San Oo, for partition of the property, said the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Under Myanmar law, children can inherit the parents’ property equally irrespective of sex.

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The reason for the suit was not known. Suu Kyi, 55 refused to accept a hand-delivered subpoena and the court had it posted on her house gate on Tuesday, said the sources close to Aung San Oo’s lawyer, Kyaw Thura.Aung San Oo, a U.S. citizen in his late 50s, is known to disagree with his sister’s strong political views, and the two are believed not to be on speaking terms.Suu Kyi’s two-story lakefront villa at No. 54 University Avenue in Yangon was her prison from 1989 to 1995, when she was held under house arrest without trial on national security charges. During that time she won the 1990 Nobel Peace prize for her nonviolent efforts to promote democracy.The government continues to restrict visitors to the house, and greatly limits her freedom of movement. Her National League for Democracy party won a 1990 general election but was never allowed to take power, and its members face harassment and jail.

No reaction was available from Suu Kyi on the suit because she has been confined to her house since Sept. 22 and is inaccessible to the press.It is the second major family crisis in the past two years for Suu Kyi, the daughter of Myanmar’s independence leader Gen. Aung San. Her British husband, Michael Aris, died in March 1999 of prostate cancer at a London hospital.

Aris had unsuccessfully petitioned the Myanmar government for months to allow him a visa to visit his wife. Suu Kyi did not leave Myanmar for fear the government would not let her return.

The one-acre (a half hectare) property with the British style house was given to Suu Kyi’s mother, Khin Kyi, by the then-civilian government after Gen. Aung San was assassinated in July 1947.

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Suu Kyi, who used to live in England with her husband and their two sons, came to Myanmar in April 1988 to look after her ailing mother. Suu Kyi has lived in the house since then, while her brother has lived in San Diego, California.

Their mother died on Dec. 27, 1988.

Aung San Oo, who visited Myanmar in July to attend the 53rd anniversary of his father’s death, empowered a third party as his representative to launch the property claim, the sources said.