Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing to attend Indonesia’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit on April 24, a Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Saturday for his first known foreign trip since organizing. a February 1 coup.
Myanmar has been in revolt 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, in an attempt to dispel protests.
In the latest violence, security forces shot and killed two people in the town of Mogok, one of several cities where crowds went out in protest on Saturday, a resident told Reuters and the press.
Myanmar’s neighbors have tried to encourage talks between rival parties to resolve the crisis, but the military has shown little willingness to engage with them or talk to the ousted government.
Several 10-member ASEAN leaders, including Myanmar, have confirmed their participation in the meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, including Min Aung Hlaing, said Thailand spokeswoman Tanee Sangrat.
A spokesman for the Myanmar junta did not respond to calls for comment.
The ousted government in Myanmar is likely to deny the junta’s participation in the meeting.
Pro-democracy politicians, including resigned MPs, on Friday announced the formation of a government of national unity (NUG), including Suu Kyi and leaders of anti-coup and ethnic minority protests.
NUG says it is the legitimate political authority. He also called for international recognition for ASEAN to reject Min Aung Hlaing’s participation in the meeting and to invite her in return.
A NUG representative was not immediately available for comment.
Earlier on Saturday, the junta released 23,184 prisoners from prisons across the country under a New Year’s amnesty, a Penitentiary Department spokesman said, though it is believed few democracy activists arrested since the coup were among them. .
Saturday is the first day of the traditional New Year in Myanmar and the last day of a five-day holiday, which is usually celebrated with visits to Buddhist temples and turbulent water throwing and street parties.
Pro-democracy activists called for the cancellation of the festivities this year and, instead, for people to focus on a campaign to restore democracy.
Suu Kyi is among 3,141 people arrested in connection with the coup, according to a report by the activist group of the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners (AAPP).
“These detainees come mainly before February 1, but there are also some who were imprisoned after that,” Prison Department spokesman Kyaw Tun Oo told Reuters.
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 about the amnesties.
DIFFICULT ROAD
While the army released thousands of prisoners, it also sought 832 people on warrants in connection with the protests, AAPP said.
Among them are 200 people, including several internet stars, actors and singers who have spoken out against the coup, wanted on charges of encouraging dissent in the armed forces, which can carry a sentence of three years in prison.
Two of them, the married couple of film director Christina Kyi and actor Zenn Kyi, were detained on Saturday at the airport in the main city of Yangon while trying to fly to Bangkok, the Irrawaddy news site reported.
NUG Vice President Duwa Lashi La, a Kachin ethnic lawyer, said in a New Year’s message that the road to replacing military government with democracy would be tough.
“We are committed to continuing to work with all ethnic peoples to overthrow the military dictatorship and establish a new federal democracy,” he said.
The coup also sparked clashes between the military and insurgent groups of ethnic minorities in the north and east.
On Saturday, fighters from the Kachin Independence Army attacked a northern air base with rockets, one of which hit a house in a nearby village, injuring one person, Mizzima news agency reported.
Suu Kyi faces various charges, including violating a secret official act that could see her imprisoned for 14 years. Her lawyers reject the allegations.
The army has defended its coup with allegations of fraud in the November elections won by Suu Kyi’s party, although the electoral commission has rejected the objections
The board said it would hold new elections within two years and hand over the winner’s power.
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