The military junta seized power last year and has since sentenced dozens of activists to death, but the country had not carried out a death penalty in decades. Last month, the junta announced its intention to carry out the death sentences, sparking international outrage. UN chief António Guterres called the decision a “blatant violation of the right to life, liberty and security.”
Phyo Zeya Thaw, a hip-hop artist who was elected to parliament in 2015 as a member of Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD party, was accused by the junta of attacking members of the regime. In August, for example, he allegedly attacked a train in Yangon with a firearm, killing five police officers. He was convicted in November under the country’s new anti-terrorism laws. Prominent democracy activist Kyaw Min Yu was handed the same verdict.
The two other activists who were executed had been convicted of allegedly murdering a woman they believed to be a junta informant.