\n Myanmar's junta lashed out Tuesday against international condemnation of the country's first use of capital punishment in decades, saying the four executed prisoners -- two of them prominent democracy fighters -- \"deserved many death sentences\".\n<\/p>\n
\n The executions announced Monday sparked condemnation from around the globe, heightened fears that more will follow and prompted calls for sterner international measures against the already-isolated junta.\n<\/p>\n
\n But the military authorities were defiant, with spokesman Zaw Min Tun insisting the men were \"given the right to defend themselves according to court procedure\".\n<\/p>\n
\n \"If we compare their sentence with other death penalty cases, they have committed crimes for which they should have been given death sentences many times,\" he said at a regular press briefing in the capital Naypyidaw.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"They harmed many innocent people. There were many big losses which could not be replaced.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n The prisoners, who included a former lawmaker from ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party, had been allowed to meet family members through video conferencing, he said, without providing details.\n<\/p>\n
\n The country's foreign ministry said it \"rejects in the strongest terms\" criticism doled out by international powers including the UN, EU, United States and former colonial ruler Britain.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Such concerns and criticisms on the Myanmar government's legal actions could be tantamount to interfering in the internal affairs of the country and indirectly abetting terrorism,\" the ministry said in a statement.\n<\/p>\n
\n - 'Extremely troubled' -\n<\/p>\n
\n Phyo Zeya Thaw, a former lawmaker from Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) was arrested in November and accused of orchestrating several attacks on regime forces, including a gun attack on a commuter train in Yangon that killed five policemen.\n<\/p>\n
\n He was sentenced to death in January for offences under anti-terrorism laws.\n<\/p>\n
\n Democracy activist Kyaw Min Yu -- better known as \"Jimmy\" -- received the same sentence from the military tribunal.\n<\/p>\n
\n The junta had previously issued an arrest warrant, alleging he had incited unrest with his social media posts.\n<\/p>\n
\n It would be up to prison authorities to decide whether their families would be permitted to retrieve their bodies, Zaw Min Tun said.\n<\/p>\n
\n The two other men were sentenced to death for killing a woman they alleged was an informer for the junta in Yangon.\n<\/p>\n
\n The junta has sentenced dozens of anti-coup activists to death as part of its crackdown on dissent after seizing power last year, but Myanmar had not carried out an execution in decades.\n<\/p>\n
\n After a chorus of international condemnation on Monday, there was fresh criticism of the junta on Tuesday.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc, which has led diplomatic efforts to end the crisis, said it was \"extremely troubled and deeply saddened\" by the executions.\n<\/p>\n
\n In a statement issued by current chair Cambodia, it accused the junta of a \"gross lack of will\" to engage with ASEAN's efforts to facilitate dialogue between the military and its opponents.\n<\/p>\n
\n In Bangkok, hundreds of people staged a noisy protest outside the Myanmar embassy.\n<\/p>\n
\n Some held photos of Ko Jimmy and Phyo Zeya Thaw alongside Aung San Suu Kyi as they chanted \"We want democracy.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n And Malaysia's foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah slammed the executions, calling them a \"crime against humanity\".\n<\/p>\n
\n He called for a review of the so-called five-point consensus agreed by Southeast Asian leaders last year aimed at defusing the political crisis in Myanmar following a coup.\n<\/p>\n
\n A spokesperson from the foreign affairs ministry of Thailand -- another ASEAN member -- said it regretted \"the loss of four lives which aggravates the vexing problems of Myanmar\".<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Myanmar's junta lashed out Tuesday against international condemnation of the country's first use of capital punishment in decades, saying the four executed prisoners -- two of them prominent democracy fighters -- \"deserved many death sentences\". The executions announced Monday sparked condemnation from around the globe, heightened fears that more will follow and prompted calls for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-104034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n