Yangon, June (5)
If activists for Myanmar democracy —Ko Jimmy, 88 generation student leader; former MP Phyo Zeyar Thaw and two young men¬ — were sentenced to death, there is no way back for the military council, U Gyi Myint, a veteran advocate, said.
On June 3, the military junta announced that the appeals of four convicts sentenced to death under the Terrorism Act had been denied, and that their death sentences had been affirmed.
According to the military regime’s spokesperson, General Zaw Min Tun, the death sentence has been confirmed, and the execution will proceed according to prison rules.
There is no way back for the military council if pro-democracy activists are sentenced to death, as the military’s saying, “there is nothing we dare not do,” U Gyi Myint, a veteran court lawyer, said.
U Gyi Myint went on to say that “The military even took power in defiance of the 2008 constitution. They claimed to have the courage to do anything. We could not say that they did not kill the activists. The consequences of execution are enormous. The stupid military is taking power because they do not take this into account. “
Ko Jimmy and Phyo Zeyar Thaw were sentenced to death by a military tribunal in the third week of January for allegedly leading a terrorist operation and coordinating with CRPH and the National Unity Government (NUG).
According to the Prison Act, the death sentences could be reduced to 10 years or life imprisonment by the President’s pardon.
However, Kyi Myint believed that if the death sentence was upheld, the execution could take place within a month or a month and a half.
In Myanmar, student leader Salai Tin Maung Oo was executed by hanging in 1976 under former military dictator General Ne Win.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed grave concern over the death penalty for pro-democracy activists by the military council and called for the verdict to be overturned.
News – Than Lwin Times
