Michelle Yeoh, the acclaimed actress and fiancée of FIA President Jean Todt, has been kicked out of military-led Burma after attempting to travel to the country for a meeting with pro-democracy champion and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Malaysian-born Yeoh had previously travelled to the controversy-torn nation in December and meet with Suu Kyi, whom she is playing in an upcoming film release, The Lady, which is is being made by French director Luc Besson in Thailand.
Upon her arrival in the Burmese capital Rangoon, Ms Yeoh was immediately deported, according to local government officials.
“She did not have the chance to enter Myanmar (Burma) again. She was deported straight away on the first flight after arriving at Yangon International Airport,” a Burmese official told the AFP news agency.
A second official confirmed that Ms Yeoh – who has been engaged to Todt for several years – has been blacklisted under the country’s strict military control rules.
Yeoh is a veteran actress and has starred in films such as Tomorrow Never Dies, Sunshine, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Memoirs of a Geisha. She is also an active member in this year’s ‘Make Roads Safer’ campaign being led by the FIA.
Sixty-six year-old Suu Kyi was freed in November after seven years of house arrest, and has won international recognition for her peaceful resistance in the face of the country’s controversial military dictatorship.
Another example of so-called democracy at work…
[Image via Telegraph]
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