Hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators protested outside Myanmar's embassy in Thailand.
Myanmar's military-led government that seized power from elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 has been accused of thousands of extrajudicial killings since then, but the hangings announced Monday were the country's first official executions in decades.
Among the four executed was Phyo Zeya Thaw, a 41-year-old former lawmaker from Suu Kyi’s party, and Kyaw Min Yu, a 53-year-old democracy activist better known as Ko Jimmy. All were tried, convicted and sentenced by a military tribunal with no possibility of appeal. "This was a barbaric act by Myanmar's military regime,” said New Zealand's Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta of the four executions carried out."New Zealand condemns these actions in the strongest possible terms.”"Australia opposes the death penalty in all circumstances for all people,” she said.
It said the move represented a setback to the group's efforts to facilitate a dialogue between the military leadership and opponents only a week before a high-level ASEAN summit in Cambodia. Some resistance groups have engaged in assassinations, drive-by shootings and bombings in urban areas. Mainstream opposition organizations generally disavow such activities, while supporting armed resistance in rural areas that are more often subject to brutal military attacks.
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