Myanmar military sentences 19 to death; says protests dwindling

A woman looks at shoes displayed with flowers in Myaynigone, as part of the Marching Shoes Strike called on social media to protest against the military coup. Pic/AFP

Nineteen people have been sentenced to death in Myanmar for killing an associate of an army captain in a district of Yangon, state media said. Seventeen of the people were sentenced in absentia, the military-owned Myawaddy television station reported on Friday. They were the first such sentences announced in public since the February 1 coup.

On March 27, the 19 accused robbed and tortured an army officer and his associate after stopping their motorbike in the township of North Okkalapa in Yangon, killing the latter, according to Myanmar Radio and Television. Out of the 19, only two are in custody, and the rest remain at large, the report said. In another development, an alliance of ethnic armies that has opposed the junta's crackdown on anti-coup protests reportedly attacked a police station in the east of the country on Saturday and at least 10 policemen were killed.

Junta spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun told a news conference in the capital, Naypyitaw, that the country was returning to normal and government ministries and banks would resume full operations soon. More than 600 people have been killed by security forces cracking down on protests against the coup, according to an activist group.

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