“It has been confirmed that Phyo Zayar Thaw and [Ko] Jimmy will be on the execution list, “junta spokesman Zau Min Tung told CNN without giving a date.
In January 2022, veteran democracy activist Ko Jimmy and former National League Democrat MP Fio Zayar Tau were sentenced to death, according to a statement from the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar’s Defense Services.
The junta accuses the two men of “involvement in terrorist acts such as bombings, killing civilians as informants,” a junta spokesman said.
It is unclear whether Phyo Zayar Thaw and Ko Jimmy have denied the charges against them. The junta’s comments do not mention their request.
The UN said on Friday it was “deeply concerned” by the decision, calling it a “clear violation of the right to life, liberty and security of person”, UN Secretary-General’s spokesman Stefan Dujarric told a briefing, citing an article in the Universal Declaration on Human rights.
“The Secretary-General reiterates his calls for respect for people’s rights to freedom of opinion and expression, and for the withdrawal of all charges against those arrested on charges related to the exercise of their fundamental freedoms and rights,” Dujarric added.
Amnesty International said the news of the resumption of executions was “shocking”. They called on the authorities to “immediately” reject the plan and for the international community to step up its efforts to intervene.
“The death penalty has become one of the many horrific ways in which Myanmar’s military is trying to sow fear among anyone who opposes its rule, and would add to grave human rights abuses, including deadly violence against civilians. protesters and other civilians, “the organization said in a post posted on its verified Twitter account.
Amnesty added that after the coup in Myanmar in February 2021, the organization registered an “alarming” increase in the number of known death sentences in the country from at least one in 2020 to at least 86 in 2021.
The 2021 amnesty says the last judicial execution in Myanmar, known to have taken place, was in 1988. There have been many death sentences in Myanmar since then, but they have usually been “replaced by mass pardons”, Amnesty said.
CNN was unable to verify regardless of when the last execution was carried out by the state in Myanmar.
Cape Diamond reports from Yangon, Myanmar, and Irene Nasser reports from Hong Kong.
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