Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing will attend the Southeast Asian Nations Association summit in Indonesia on April 24, a Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Saturday for his first trip abroad known since he staged a coup on February 1st.
Myanmar has been revolutionized since Min Aung Hlaing ousted an elected government led by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi, with security forces killing 728 people, according to a count of activist groups, in an attempt to eradicate protests.
In the most recent violence, security forces shot dead two people in the ruby mining town of Mogok, one of several cities where crowds came out to protest on Saturday, a resident told Reuters and media.
Myanmar’s neighbors have tried to encourage talks between rival sides to resolve the crisis, but the army has shown little willingness to compromise with them or talk to the ousted government.
Several ten-member ASEAN leaders, of which Myanmar is a member, had confirmed their attendance at the meeting in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, including Min Aung Hlaing, Thai spokesman Tanee Sangrat said.
A Myanmar board spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment.
The ousted Myanmar government is likely to deny the board chairman’s participation in the meeting.
Pro-democracy politicians, including ousted members of parliament, on Friday announced the formation of a National Unity Government (NUG), including Suu Kyi and leaders of protests against the coup and ethnic minorities.
The NUG says it is the legitimate political authority. She has called for international recognition and for ASEAN to reject Min Aung Hlaing’s participation in the meeting and invite her.
A NUG representative was not immediately available for comment.
Earlier Saturday, the board released 23,184 prisoners from prisons across the country under a New Year’s amnesty, a Prison Department spokesman said, though it was believed there were few Democratic activists detained since the coup. .
Saturday is the first day of the traditional New Year in Myanmar and the last five-day holiday that is usually celebrated with visits to Buddhist temples and turbulent water throwing and street party.
Pro-democracy activists called for the cancellation of the holidays this year and instead for people to focus on a campaign to restore democracy.
Suu Kyi is one of 3,141 people arrested in connection with the coup, according to a count by the activist group of the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners (AAPP).
“These detainees are mostly prior to February 1, but there are also some who were jailed afterwards,” Prison Department spokesman Kyaw Tun Oo told Reuters by telephone.
Asked if any of those released could have been detained in connection with the protests against the military government, he said he had no details of the amnesties.
ROUTE ROUTE
While the military released thousands of prisoners, it was also looking for 832 people with connection orders to the protests, the AAPP said.
Among them are 200 people, including various celebrities, actors and singers on the Internet who have spoken out against the coup, wanted on charges of encouraging dissent from the armed forces, which could last three years. of prison.
Two of them, the married couple of film director Christina Kyi and actor Zenn Kyi, were arrested on Saturday at Yangon’s main city airport while trying to take a flight to Bangkok, the website reported. Irrawaddy news.
NUG Vice President Duwa Lashi La, Kachin’s ethnic advocate, said in a New Year’s message that the road to replacing the military government with democracy would be tough.
“We pledge to continue working with all ethnic peoples to overthrow the military dictatorship and establish a new federal democracy,” he said.
The coup has also sparked clashes between the army and insurgent ethnic minority groups in the north and east.
On Saturday, fighters from the Kachin Independence Army attacked a northern air base with rockets, one of which crashed into a nearby village house, injuring one person, news agency Mizzima reported.
Suu Kyi faces several charges, including the violation of an official act of secrecy that could see her imprisoned for 14 years. His lawyers reject the charges.
The army has defended its coup with allegations of fraud in the November election won by Suu Kyi’s party, although the election commission rejected the objections.
The board has said it will hold new elections in two years and hand over power to the winner.
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