Myanmar junta chief to attend ASEAN summit on first foreign trip since coup
18 April, 2021
Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing will attend a link of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Indonesia on Apr 24, a Thai foreign ministry spokesman said on Saturday (Apr 17), for his first known foreign trip since he staged a Feb 1 coup.
Myanmar has been around upheaval since Min Aung Hlaing ousted an elected government led by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi, with security forces killing 728 people, according to an activist group tally, so that they can stamp out protests.
In the latest violence, security forces shot and killed two persons in the ruby-mining town of Mogok, one of the towns where crowds came out to protest on Saturday, a resident told Reuters and media reported.
Myanmar's neighbours have been trying to motivate talks between your rival sides to solve the crisis however the military has proven little willingness to activate with them or speak to the ousted government.
Several leaders of the 10-member ASEAN, which Myanmar is a member, had confirmed their attendance at the meeting in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, including Min Aung Hlaing, the Thai spokesman, Tanee Sangrat, said.
A spokesman for the Myanmar junta didn't answer calls seeking comment.
Myanmar's ousted government is likely to decry the junta chief's participation in the meeting.
Pro-democracy politicians, including ousted members of parliament, announced the formation of a National Unity Government (NUG) on Friday, including Aung San Suu Kyi and leaders of the anti-coup protests and ethnic minorities.
The NUG says it's the legitimate political authority. It has needed international recognition and for ASEAN to reject Min Aung Hlaing's participation in the meeting and invite it instead.
A representative of the NUG had not been immediately designed for comment.
Previously Saturday, the junta released 23,184 prisoners from jails in the united states under a fresh Year amnesty, a Prisons Department spokesman said, though few if any democracy activists arrested because the coup were regarded as among them.
A guy, rear, smiles amidst a waiting crowd as he steps out of Insein prison in Yangon, Myanmar, on Apr 17, 2021. (AP Photo)
Saturday may be the first day of the original New Year in Myanmar and the last day of a five-day holiday that is normally celebrated with visits to Buddhist temples and rowdy water throwing and partying in the streets.
Activists called for the cancellation of the festivities this season and instead for folks to give attention to a campaign to revive democracy.
Aung San Suu Kyi is among 3,141 persons arrested regarding the the coup, according to a tally by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) activist group.
"These detainees are mostly from before Feb 1 but additionally, there are some who were imprisoned after," Prisons Department spokesman Kyaw Tun Oo told Reuters by telephone.
Asked if some of those being freed may have been detained in connection with the protests against military rule, he said he didn't have details of the amnesties.
ROUGH ROAD
As the military was freeing the thousands of prisoners, it was also seeking 832 persons on warrants in connection with the protests, the AAPP said.
Included in this are 200 people, including several internet celebrities, actors and singers who've spoken out against the coup, wanted on a charge of encouraging dissent in the military, that may carry a three-year jail term.
A crowd waves to persons onboard a bus that drove out of Insein prison in Yangon, Myanmar on Apr 17, 2021. (AP Photo)
Two of them, the married handful of film director Christina Kyi and actor Zenn Kyi, were detained at the airport in the key city of Yangon on Saturday because they were trying to leave on a flight to Bangkok, the Irrawaddy news site reported.
The NUG's vice president, Duwa Lashi La, an ethnic Kachin lawyer, said in a fresh Year message the street to replacing military rule with democracy will be rough.
"We pledge to keep working with all ethnic peoples to overthrow the military dictatorship and set up a new federal democracy," he said.
The coup in addition has triggered clashes between your army and ethnic minority insurgent groups in the north and east.
On Saturday, fighters from the Kachin Independence Army attacked an air base in the north with rockets, one of which hit a close by village house, injuring one individual, the Mizzima news agency reported.
Aung San Suu Kyi faces various charges including violating the official secrets act that could see her jailed for 14 years. Her legal professionals dismiss the charges.
The military has defended its coup with accusations of fraud in a November election won by Aung San Suu Kyi's party, although election commission dismissed the objections.
The junta has said it'll hold a fresh election within 2 yrs and hand power to the winner.
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