Myanmar: International outcry as democracy activists executed for carrying out alleged ‘terror acts’ | World News
Myanmar military authorities have executed four democracy activists accused of helping to carry out “terrorist acts”, state media reported.
Four people were sentenced to death in January in a closed-door trial, accused of aiding militias fighting the army plundering power. in a coup last year.
The executions marked the first carried out in decades in the Southeast Asian country and drew international condemnation with two UN experts calling it a “vile attempt at sowing seeds. spread fear” to the people.
The men executed included Kyaw Min Yu, the pro-democracy figure better known as Jimmy, and former politician and hip-hop artist Phyo Zeya Thaw, the Global New Light of Myanmar reported. .
Kyaw Min-yu. Pic: Associated Press
Kyaw Min Yu, 53, and Phyo Zeya Thaw, 41-year-old allies of ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, lost the case in June.
The other two men executed were Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw.
The newspaper said the four had been charged under anti-terrorism laws and sentencing was “conducted according to prison procedure”.
Phyo Zeya Thaw with then Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Pic: Associated Press
In the past, executions in Myanmar were carried out by hanging.
Association to Support Political Prisoners (AAPP), an activist group, says last judicial executions in Myanmar
took place in the late 1980s.
Thazin Nyunt Aung, wife of Phyo Zeyar Thaw, said she was not informed of her husband’s execution.
The decision to carry out the executions drew widespread international attention and protest, including a letter from Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Hun Sen is currently president of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, and is leading the group’s efforts to try to resolve the crisis in Myanmar. His letter is unusual as Southeast Asian governments rarely make statements that could be seen as critical of each other’s internal affairs.
Myanmar has been in chaos since then last year’s coup. The military toppled Ms. Suu Kyi’s elected government in February 2021, following her party’s second consecutive resounding victory in the polls.
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Many democratically elected politicians include, Mrs. Suu Kyiand President U Win Myint were detained.
Others fled or were forced to hide.
The military regime said fears of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 vote were the reason it needed to take power and declare a state of emergency.
The AAPP says more than 2,100 people have been killed by security forces since the coup, a number the authorities say is exaggerated.
