UN says Myanmar sentences seven students to death

BANGKOK, Dec 3, (AFP) The Myanmar junta handed out at least seven more death sentences this week, taking the tally of those on death row to 139, according to the United Nations.

A junta spokesperson did not respond to calls from outside Myanmar seeking confirmation of the latest death sentences. The United Nations accused it of using capital punishment as a “tool to crush opposition”.

Myanmar has been in chaos since Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government was toppled in a military coup in February 2021, ending the southeast Asian nation's brief period of democracy.

At least seven male university students were sentenced to death by a military court behind closed doors on Wednesday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in a statement.

“By resorting to use death sentences as a political tool to crush opposition, the military confirms its disdain for the efforts by ASEAN and the international community at large to end violence and create the conditions for a political dialogue to lead Myanmar out of a human rights crisis created by the military,” Turk said.

Local media reports said the Yangon-based university students were arrested in April and accused of involvement in a bank shooting.