Human rights activists clashed with police in East Timor on Friday as they protested the visit of Burma’s foreign minister and demanded the release of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Dozens of protesters gathered at Dili airport as Foreign Minister Nyan Win arrived ahead of talks with East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta and other senior officials, organisers said.

Scuffles broke out as police seized banners and other written material condemning human rights abuses in military-ruled Burma, where Nobel laureate and democracy leader Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for years.

“We are here to bring support to our friends in Burma in their struggle to release political prisoners and to stop continuous human rights violations there,” rally coordinator Carolino Marques said.

“Aung San Suu Kyi must be released immediately and the military junta must be toppled as soon as possible.” A tightly controlled election scheduled in Burma on 7 November has been condemned by activists and the West as a sham aimed at cementing decades of military rule.

Suu Kyi, who has spent much of the past 20 years in detention, is barred as a serving prisoner from standing. Her National League for Democracy – which won the last election in 1990 but was not allowed to take power – it is boycotting the vote. Nyan Win is expected to leave East Timor on Sunday.