Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing

MYANMAR: TWO ALLEGED ASSASSINS SUMMARILY EXECUTED IN JUNTA CUSTODY

July 10, 2023:

Myanmar’s military reportedly killed two individuals affiliated with the country’s anti-coup armed resistance movement on July 6, 2023 in an apparent summary execution. 
The detainees, identified as Kaung Zarni Hein, 23, also known as La Pyae, and Kyaw Thura, 30, also known as E.T., were held in Yangon’s Insein Prison on suspicion of assassinating a pro-junta singer.
Both men were allegedly members of the Special Task Force, a local urban guerrilla group. They were apprehended by the military shortly after the assassination of Lily Naing Kyaw, a pro-junta singer and propagandist, in late May.
On the evening of July 6, military personnel reportedly took the prisoners from Insein Prison to Maungmakan Street in Ward 20 of North Dagon Township, located on the outskirts of Yangon, where they were shot and killed, according to reports.
Several pro-military news outlets, citing junta sources, claimed the two men were brought there to identify evidence but were killed because “they attempted to escape”—a rationale often employed by the military regime to justify arbitrary executions of detained opponents.
However, as individuals with alleged ties to armed resistance groups accused of committing a lethal assassination, an escape attempt is highly unlikely, as they would both have been taken out of the prison in handcuffs and shackles.
Pro-junta social media pages and Telegram groups reported that each detainee sustained three gunshot wounds before succumbing to their injuries.
Lily Naing Kyaw, a self-proclaimed “nationalist” singer aligned with the pro-junta faction, was targeted in an attack on May 30 in Yangon. She passed away shortly after being transported to a hospital.
The incident has deeply affected pro-military groups, who have since used social media platforms and messaging channels to call for retaliation.
The same groups also revealed that prior to her killing, Lily Naing Kyaw was working on a Burmese version of a Russian military song in collaboration with the Russian embassy in Yangon and the junta’s information ministry.
The summary execution of Kaung Zarni Hein and Kyaw Thura was widely applauded by the pro-junta groups, which also urged the regime to deal with all other detained political prisoners in the same manner.
Independent verification of the execution of Kaung Zarni Hein and Kyaw Thura by Myanmar Now is still pending. However, if confirmed, it is likely that the junta resorted to summary execution to avoid the international condemnation that it received when it executed four pro-democracy activists in Yangon’s Insein Prison in July of last year.
Furthermore, shortly after the arrest of the two suspects, unknown gunmen suspected to be linked to the military junta killed two relatives of one of the detainees.
Myanmar’s military routinely targets the relatives of its opponents for arrest or assassination.
Early last month, Than Myint, the brother of Aung Kyaw Moe, one of the deputy ministers of the publicly-mandated National Unity Government, was assassinated in Yangon.