Singapore PM calls for Suu Kyi release, says sanctions won't hurt military - it's an 'enormous, tragic step back'

Protesters wearing hard hats as protective gear take part in a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon on Tuesday (March 2, 2021). The ongoing political turmoil in Myanmar has sparked nationwide protests with at least 21 killed and over a thousand arrested. - AFP

SINGAPORE, March 2 (Agencies): Singapore's Prime Minister on Tuesday called for Myanmar's military to release elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi to allow the country to move forward and said sanctions would hurt the people rather than the military.

In a transcript of an interview with the BBC, Lee Hsien Loong said the military will have learned from the past that it was in the country's interests for it to work out an arrangement with an elected civilian government, as a military route would lead nowhere.