Veteran activist, hip-hop-star-turned lawmaker: The men executed by Myanmar’s junta

The Myanmar junta on Monday executed four pro-democracy activists accused of committing “terror acts”. Veteran activist Kyaw Min Yu, better known as Ko Jimmy, and former National League for Democracy lawmaker Phyo Zayar Thaw were executed, along with Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw.

The four were sentenced to death in a closed-door trial in January this year. They appealed against the punishment which was rejected.

The executions are the first since 1988, according to the United Nations, which has condemned the killings.

“I am outraged and devastated at the news of the junta’s execution of Myanmar patriots and champions of human rights and democracy,” said UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar Tom Andrews.

The accused and their ‘crimes’

Ko Jimmy, 53, was one of the leaders of the 88 Generation Students Group, a pro-democracy group which led the 1988 students' uprising against Myanmar’s junta but failed.

He and his wife Nilar Thein are considered veterans of the pro-democracy movement and have spearheaded agitations for years. During the 2007 protests led by monks against the regime, the couple mobilised protesters from the 1988 agitation.

Jimmy had already spent more than a dozen years behind bars for political activism before he was released in 2012. He was once again arrested last October after being accused of hiding weapons and ammunition at an apartment in Yangon and being an “advisor” to the National Unity Government, reports BBC.

He had been put on a wanted list for social media postings that allegedly incited unrest. State media said that he was accused of terrorist acts including mine attacks and headed a group called Moon Light Operation to carry out urban guerrilla attacks, reports The Associated Press.

Phyo Zeya Thaw, 41, was a former lawmaker from the ousted leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung Sang Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD). He was arrested in November and sentenced to death in January for offences under anti-terrorism laws.

Thaw was a former hip-hop star who went on to become a politician. His band Acid released the country’s first-ever hip-hop album and his subversive lyrics irked the earlier junta. He was jailed in 2008 for membership in an illegal organisation and possession of foreign currency.

Thaw became close to Suu Kyi and even attended meetings with world leaders along with her, reports BBC. He was elected to parliament representing NLD in the 2015 elections, which ushered in a transition to civilian rule.

Not much is known about the other two activists – Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw. They were sentenced to death for killing a woman they alleged was an informer for the junta in Yangon.

Outrage in the international community

The junta was heavily criticised by international powers last month when it announced its intention to carry out the executions.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the decision, calling it “a blatant violation to the right to life, liberty and security of person”.

The junta has slammed criticism from the UN and western countries as “irresponsible and reckless”.

Acting Asia director for Human Rights Watch, Elaine Pearson, called the executions “an act of utter cruelty,” that “followed grossly unjust and politically motivated military trials”, reports CNN. “This horrific news was compounded by the junta’s failure to notify the men’s families, who learned about the executions through the junta’s media reports," Pearson said in a statement Monday.

UN rights experts had said that if the executions went ahead it could mark the start of a spate of hangings. The experts said that under the junta’s martial law provisions, the death penalty could be given for 23 “vague and broadly defined offences” which in practice could include any criticism of the military, reports news agency AFP.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen had earlier urged Myanmar to reconsider and suggested the executions would draw strong condemnation and complicate efforts to restore peace. Hun Sen has a special interest in Myanmar because Cambodia this year chairs the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which has sought to end the violence in Myanmar and provide humanitarian assistance. Myanmar is a member of ASEAN but has failed to cooperate with the bloc's plans.

Myanmar’s foreign ministry rejected criticism of the decision to proceed with the executions, declaring that Myanmar’s judicial system is fair and that Phyo Zeya Thaw and Kyaw Min Yu were proven to be masterminds of orchestrating full-scale terrorist attacks against innocent civilians to instill fear and disrupt peace and stability, reports AP. They killed at least 50 people, military spokesperson Major General Zaw Min Tun said on live television last month, referring to Phyo Zeya Thaw and Kyaw Min Yu. He said the decision to hang the four prisoners was for the rule of law and to prevent similar incidents in the future.

More executions expected

The country’s military alleged voter fraud during elections in 2020, which the NLD won by a landslide, and carried out a coup on 1 February last year. After Suu Kyi’s arrest in 2021, she was sent to solitary confinement on 23 June.

She has already been sentenced to 11 years in jail. However, she denies several charges against her.

Since the coup, 114 people have been sentenced to death in Myanmar. However, Monday’s killings of the activists mark the first judicial executions in the country in more than three decades and more are likely to follow.

Under the junta, civilian cases have been tried in military courts and proceedings are closed to the public.

Except for the last 10 years, the military has directly ruled Myanmar for decades, sentencing many of its critics to death.

With inputs from agencies

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