Myanmar junta set to carry out first executions in over 3 decades
Bangkok, Jun 3 (EFE).- Myanmar is set to carry its first executions in over 30 years as punishment against a former lawmaker and pro-democracy activist convicted of terrorism by the military junta that seized power in 2021.
Execution orders have been approved on the death sentences handed down to Ko Phyo Zeya Thaw, a former member of deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party National League for Democracy, and pro-democracy activist Ko Jimmy, The Irrawaddy news outlet reported Friday citing anonymous sources within the junta.
“The Prison Department will now decide when to proceed with the executions,” the source added.
Although the death penalty exists in Myanmar, the Asian country has not carried out an execution since 1988, according to Amnesty International.
Some 113 people have been sentenced to death since the military junta came to power in a coup on February 1, 2021.
The coup d’état sparked a profound socio-political crisis in Myanmar with the emergence of armed civilian groups and an uptick in violence between authorities and a patchwork of ethnic guerilla groups.
At least 1,887 people have been killed by brutal repression doled out by police and state security, according to the nonprofit Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. EFE
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