Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen has urged Myanmar’s military government not to carry out the planned executions of four political prisoners, suggesting that the move will further isolate the junta and throw up further obstacles to restore peace.
In a letter to Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing dated Saturday, a copy of which was obtained by the Associated Press, Hun Sen wrote that “with deep concern and sincere desire to help Myanmar achieve peace and national reconciliation, I would like to earnestly request you and the State Administrative Council (SAC) to reconsider the sentences and refrain from carrying out the death sentences given to those anti-SAC individuals.”
Early this month, a spokesperson for the military junta announced that Phyo Zeyar Thaw, a former lawmaker in the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) government, and Ko Jimmy, a veteran pro-democracy activist, would be executed for violating the country’s counterterrorism law, after having their appeals rejected. Two other men have also been convicted of killing a woman they believed was a military informant. The four are among around 114 people who have been sentenced to death by military tribunals since the military coup of February 2021, mostly for waging an armed struggle against the military junta, in addition to at least 1,929 people who have been killed by the security forces.
In full: https://thediplomat.com/2022/06/cambodian-pm-urges-myanmar-not-to-execute-political-prisoners/
