Myanmar says it will carry out first executions in decades

By GRANT PECK
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military-installed government says it will go ahead with the executions of a former lawmaker from ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party and a veteran pro-democracy activist convicted of violating the country’s Counter-Terrorism Law. Local media say two other men convicted of killing a woman they believed was a military informer will also be executed. A government spokesperson was cited as saying that the decision to carry out the executions was confirmed after their legal appeals were rejected. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which tracks arrests, says Myanmar courts have handed down death sentences to 114 political offenders, including two children, since the army seized power from Suu Kyi’s elected government in February last year.