Myanmar’s military junta has reportedly used the death penalty for the first time in decades, executing four prisoners, including a former MP from former leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party.
Four of them were executed for leading “brutal and inhuman acts of terrorism”, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported.
The executions took place “under prison procedure”, without detailing when and how they died, the report said.
The military junta sentenced dozens of anti-coup activists to death as part of its crackdown on dissidents after it came to power last year.
The United States condemned the executions, which included a prominent pro-democracy activist.
“We condemn the military regime’s execution of pro-democracy leaders and elected officials for exercising their fundamental freedoms,” the US embassy in Yangon said on its official Twitter account.
Human Rights Watch, on the other hand, described the executions as “an act of extreme cruelty.” The NGO’s Asia director, Elaine Pearson, urged the international community to “show the junta that its crimes will be held to account”.
Phyo Zeya Thaw, 41, a former MP from Aung San Suu Kyi’s National Union for Democracy (NLD) party, was arrested last November and sentenced to death in January this year for violating anti-terrorism law.
The Burmese hip-hop pioneer, whose lyrics have been critical of the military since the early 2000s, was arrested in 2008 for being a member of an organization deemed illegal in the country and for possession of foreign currency. He won a seat as a deputy during the transition from military to civilian rule in the 2015 elections.
The junta accused him of carrying out several attacks against the regime, including the attack on a train in Yangon last August. Five policemen died.
Kyaw Min Yu, a leading pro-democracy activist, 53, known as “Jimmy”, received the same sentence from a court-martial. “Jimmy” was a writer and a longtime Army competitor. At that time he played an important role in the 1988 student revolt against the military junta. He was arrested in October and received his sentence in January.
The other two defendants were sentenced to death for killing a woman they said was an informant for the Yangon junta.
– ‘Uncertain crimes’ –
The junta was heavily criticized by international powers when it announced its intention to carry out the executions last month.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the decision, calling it “a clear violation of life, liberty and security of person”.
The last death penalty in Myanmar dates back to 1988, according to a UN expert report released last June. The document has resulted in 114 death sentences since the coup.
Experts noted that the martial law law allows the military to impose the death penalty for 23 “ambiguous and broadly defined crimes” and practically any criticism of power. They also warned that executions could be expedited if the international community does not react.
Richard Horsey, Myanmar expert from the International Crisis Group (ICG), replied on Twitter that the four executions announced on Monday were “a scandalous act” that will “create waves of political influence now and for a long time to come”.
The executions are expected to increase the international isolation of the Burmese military. The junta forcibly came to power on February 1, 2021, on the pretext of alleged fraud in the previous year’s elections, in which the NLD had won a landslide victory.
The army continues to apply bloody pressure against its opponents. According to a local NGO, more than 2,000 civilians have been killed and more than 15,000 detained since the coup. Among those arrested is 77-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi, a former leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner. He is facing several charges in court that, taken together, could result in sentences of up to 150 years in prison.
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© Agence France-Press
source: Noticias
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