Myanmar executes NLD lawmaker, 3 other political opponents
Bangkok(AP): Myanmar's government announced Monday it had carried out its first executions in nearly 50 years, hanging a former National League for Democracy lawmaker, a democracy activist and two men accused of violence after the country's takeover by the military last year.
The executions, detailed in the state-run Mirror Daily newspaper, were carried out despite worldwide pleas for clemency for the four political prisoners, including from United Nations experts and Cambodia, which holds the rotating chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The four were executed in accordance with legal procedures for directing and organizing "violent and inhuman accomplice acts of terrorist killings, the newspaper reported. It did not say when the executions were carried out.
The military government issued a brief statement confirming the report while the prison where the men had been held and the prison department refused comment.
Aung Myo Min, human rights minister for the National Unity Government, a shadow civilian administration established outside Myanmar after the military seized power in February 2021, rejected the allegations the men were involved in violence.
Punishing them with death is a way to rule the public through fear, he told The Associated Press.
Among those executed was Phyo Zeya Thaw, a former lawmaker from ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party, also known as Maung Kyaw, who was convicted in January by a closed military court of offenses involving explosives, bombings and financing terrorism.
His wife, Thazin Nyunt Aung, told the AP she had not been informed his execution had been carried out. I am still trying to confirm it myself, she said.
The 41-year-old had been arrested last November based on information from people detained for shooting security personnel, state media said at the time. He was also accused of being a key figure in a network that carried out what the military described as terrorist attacks in Yangon, the country's biggest city.
Phyo Zeya Thaw had been a hip-hop musician before becoming a member of the Generation Wave political movement formed in 2007. He was jailed in 2008 under a previous military government after being accused of illegal association and possession of foreign currency.
Also executed was Kyaw Min Yu, a 53-year-old democracy activist better known as Ko Jimmy, for violating the counterterrorism law. Kyaw Min Yu was one of the leaders of the 88 Generation Students Group, veterans of a failed 1988 popular uprising against military rule.
He already had spent more than a dozen years behind bars for political activism before his arrest in Yangon last October. He had been put on a wanted list for social media postings that allegedly incited unrest and state media said he was accused of terrorist acts including mine attacks and of heading a group called Moon Light Operation to carry out urban guerrilla attacks.
The other two men, Hla Myo Aung and Aung Thura Zaw, were convicted of torturing and killing a woman in March 2021 whom they allegedly believed was a military informer.
Elaine Pearson, acting Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said the legal proceedings against the four had been grossly unjust and politically motivated military trials.
The junta's barbarity and callous disregard for human life aims to chill the anti-coup protest movement," she said following the announcement of the executions.
Thomas Andrews, an independent U.N.-appointed expert on human rights who had condemned the decision to go ahead with the executions when they were announced in June, called for a strong international response.
I am outraged and devastated at the news of the junta's execution of Myanmar patriots and champions of human rights and decency," he said in a statement. These individuals were tried, convicted and sentenced by a military tribunal without the right of appeal and reportedly without legal counsel, in violation of international human rights law.
Myanmar's Foreign Ministry had rejected the wave of criticism that followed its announcement in June, declaring that Myanmar's judicial system is fair and that Phyo Zeya Thaw and Kyaw Min Yu were proven to be masterminds of orchestrating full-scale terrorist attacks against innocent civilians to instill fear and disrupt peace and stability.
They killed at least 50 people, military spokesperson Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun said on live television last month. He said the decision to hang all four prisoners conformed with the rule of law and the purpose was to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The military's seizure of power from Suu Kyi's elected government triggered peaceful protests that soon escalated to armed resistance and then to widespread fighting that some U.N. experts characterize as a civil war.
Some resistance groups have engaged in assassinations, drive-by shootings and bombings in urban areas. Mainstream opposition organizations generally disavow such activities, while supporting armed resistance in rural areas that are more often subject to brutal military attacks.
According to Myanmar law, executions must be approved by the head of the government. The last judicial execution to be carried out in Myanmar is generally believed to have been of another political offender, student leader Salai Tin Maung Oo, in 1976 under a previous military government led by dictator Ne Win.
In 2014, the sentences of prisoners on death row were commuted to life imprisonment, but several dozen convicts received death sentences between then and last year's takeover.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a non-governmental organization that tracks killing and arrests, said Friday that 2,114 civilians have been killed by security forces since the military takeover. It said 115 other people had been sentenced to death. (AP)
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Chandrayaan-5 to have heavier lander with longer mission life: ISRO Chief
Bengaluru (PTI): India is planning to collect samples from the Moon and bring them back to Earth under Chandrayaan-4, while Chandrayaan-5 will involve a heavier lander with a longer mission life, ISRO Chairman V Narayanan said on Wednesday.
He also spoke about ISRO's future missions including the one to study Venus and the other on Mars landing mission.
"Now we are working on the continuation of the Chandrayaan programme. In Chandrayaan-4, we plan to collect samples and bring them back. Chandrayaan-5 will involve a heavier lander with a longer mission life," he said at the inaugural ceremony of ISRO's fourth edition of the Space Science and Technology Awareness Training (START 2026) programme here.
He recalled that in Chandrayaan-3, the lander's mission life was only 14 days.
"In the future mission, we are talking about a life of around 100 days. The rover will also be heavier. Chandrayaan-3 had a rover of about 25 kg, while the future mission will have a rover of about 350 kg," Narayanan said.
Referring to ISRO's future programmes like the Venus Orbiter Mission, he said, "We have already accomplished the Mars Orbiter Mission, and now we are working on a Mars landing mission."
"These are some of the projects being discussed for government approval. So there is a lot of interest in the science area."
He noted that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the vision of the space programme has been expanded and said, "We are currently working on the Gaganyaan programme and are planning to send our own astronauts into space and bring them back safely, possibly within the next two years."
"We are also planning to build our own space station by 2035. Additionally, we are working on landing Indians on the Moon and bringing them back safely by 2040. Brainstorming activities have already begun. So there are many activities happening in the space sector. Apart from application-related activities that ensure food security, water security, communication, and safety for citizens, there are many initiatives planned in the science area as well," he added.
Narayanan noted that India's space programme has accomplished 10 scientific missions so far, including AstroSat, which recently completed a decade in orbit and was still functioning very well.
He also highlighted India's various lunar exploration missions -- Chandrayaan-1, Chandrayaan-2, and Chandrayaan-3 -- saying they led to many scientific discoveries.
"We are progressing in a big way," he added.
Highlighting the successful Chandrayaan-3 mission in the year 2023, the ISRO chairman said that India became the first country to successfully achieve a soft landing near the south pole of the Moon.
"Not only did we achieve the landing, but many discoveries were made. Around eight minerals were identified, seismic activity was studied, and the thermal profile of the Moon's surface was understood. Electron clouds were also studied. So many discoveries have come from that mission," he added.
Referring to the launch of Aditya-L1, the ISRO chairman said, "India is the fourth country to successfully place a satellite to study the Sun, and a large amount of data has already come out, and we have released the data as well."
Emphasising India's Space Vision 2047, he recalled that the country, which started with very humble beginnings, has developed significant capabilities.
"Today, we have the capability to conceive, design, and build our own launch vehicles, as well as conceive, build, and place satellites in orbit. Fifty years ago, we did not have this capability. Today, we can build satellites and the payloads required for them," Narayanan said.
Citing an example, he said that earlier optical cameras used lenses that were only about one inch in diameter.
"But today, in ISRO, cameras with optics of about 1.7 metres in diameter and almost one foot in thickness are being developed. These optics are being built at the LEOS (Laboratory For Electro Optics Systems) laboratory in Bengaluru for space observation. Many such activities are happening in the space sector," he noted.
He pointed out that the US, after 1969 and almost after 50-55 years, has again shown interest in landing on the Moon.
"The Artemis programme is already a very vibrant programme, with many activities going on. An accord was signed in 2023, and India is also a signatory to that accord," he said.
Speaking about China and Russia leading efforts to build the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), the ISRO chairman noted, "When we talk about such space stations, one aspect is technology development. The second aspect is the large number of scientific experiments that will take place there. There is also a lot of competition today."
"There was a time when only government organisations across the world carried out space activities. Today, companies like SpaceX have advanced significantly. In fact, they have overtaken many others in terms of launches," he added.
He said that the main idea behind programmes like START 2026 is to encourage the next generation of youngsters to develop interest in this field and to build scientific temper so that they can become great leaders in building the nation.
