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What’s happening in Myanmar?

Activists fear a ‘killing spree’ after the military junta carried out the country’s first executions in decades

By Rashmee Roshan Lall
What’s happening in Myanmar?
Protesters gather outside the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok after the executions of four pro-democracy activists | SOPA Images Limited/Alamy Live News
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On 25 July, Myanmar’s military junta put four pro-democracy activists to death, the country’s first executions in more than 30 years.

The killings have drawn widespread international condemnation, including a US warning that “there can be no business as usual with this regime”. The regionally influential Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a member, said the executions are “highly reprehensible”.

But Myanmar’s government, led for the past 17 months by military chief General Min Aung Hlaing, remains defiant. Defending its execution of the “criminals”, it said the killings weren’t “personal”, just entirely deserved. It added that this was “justice for the people”.

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