G7 raps Myanmar junta executions as showing contempt for democracy

The Group of Seven nations on Thursday strongly condemned Myanmar’s military government over the execution of pro-democracy activists announced earlier this week, saying it reflects “contempt” for the Myanmar people’s desire for democracy.

“These executions, the first in Myanmar in over 30 years, and the absence of fair trials show the junta’s contempt for the unwavering democratic aspirations of the people of Myanmar,” the foreign ministers of the G7 countries said in a joint statement.

On Monday, the junta said it executed Phyo Zeyar Thaw, a former National League for Democracy lawmaker, and Kyaw Min Yu, a prominent democracy activist widely known as Jimmy, along with two other accused murderers.

The G7’s top diplomats reiterated their condemnation “in the strongest terms” of the February 2021 military coup, calling on the junta to “refrain from further arbitrary executions” and to “return the country to a democratic path.”

The foreign ministers also vowed to continue supporting efforts by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations toward a peaceful resolution of the Myanmar situation under the “five-point consensus” agreed by ASEAN leaders in April last year, including a call for an immediate halt to violence.

The G7 consists of Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and the United States, plus the European Union.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES