Myanmar’s military authorities have executed four pro-democracy activists accused of helping carry out “acts of terror”, state media have reported.
The four were sentenced to death in January in a closed-door trial, accused of helping militias fight the army that seized power in a coup last year.
The executions are the first in decades in the Southeast Asian country and drew international condemnation with two UN experts calling them a “vile attempt to instill fear” among the population.
The executed men included democracy figure Kyaw Min Yu, better known as Jimmy, and former politician and hip-hop artist Phyo Zeya Thaw, the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.
Image: Kyaw Min Yu. Image: Associated Press
Kyaw Min Yu, 53, and Phyo Zeya Thaw, a 41-year-old ally of ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, lost their appeals in June.
The other two men executed were Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw.
The newspaper said the four had been charged under the anti-terror law and that the sentence had been “carried out under custodial proceedings”.
Image: Phyo Zeya Thaw with then Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Image: Associated Press
Executions in Myanmar had previously been carried out by hanging.
The Association for the Assistance of Political Prisoners (AAPP), an activist group, said the last judicial executions in Myanmar took place in the late 1980s.
Thazin Nyunt Aung, Phyo Zeyar Thaw’s wife, said she had not been informed of her husband’s execution.
The decision to carry out the executions drew widespread international concern and protest, including a letter from Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Hun Sen is currently the chairman 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 was unusual because Southeast Asian governments rarely issue statements that could be considered critical of each other’s internal affairs.
Myanmar has been in chaos since last year’s coup. The army overthrew Ms Suu Kyi’s elected government in February 2021, following her party’s second consecutive landslide victory at the polls.
Image: In the jungles of Myanmar, civilians prepare to fight against unpopular military rulers
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Many democratically elected politicians, including Ms Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint, were arrested.
Others fled or were forced into hiding.
The military regime said concerns about widespread electoral fraud in the 2020 vote were the reason it needed to seize 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 figure the junta says is exaggerated.