For the first time in 30 years, the military junta of Myanmar is going to execute the death penalty. A junta spokesman said on Friday that four people had been executed, including Fio Zhao Thao, a former member of the country's ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party.
A spokesman for the AFP news agency, Zhao Min Tun, told AFP that four people, including former MP Fio Jia Thao and democracy activist Ko Jimmy, had been sentenced to death and would be executed "according to the law."
The military junta has executed dozens of anti-coup activists as part of a crackdown on dissent since taking power last year. But Myanmar has not carried out executions for decades.
Fio Jia Thao, a member of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, was arrested last November. He was sentenced to death in January in an anti-terrorism law case. Prominent democracy activist Kiao Min Yu, better known as Jimmy, was also sentenced to death by a military tribunal.
Janta spokesman Jao Min-tun said, "They have continued the legal process to reduce appeals and sentences. But the court rejected their appeal and request. There is no further action. "
Zhao Min did not say when the four executions would take place.