Pro-junta thugs attack homes of executed activists’ parents

Several dozen people mobbed the Yangon residences of the parents of two recently executed activists on Wednesday, in an apparently coordinated act of intimidation by pro-junta forces.

The targets were the parents of Phyo Zayar Thaw, a former National League for Democracy MP, and Ko Jimmy, a veteran of the 1988 student uprising, who were among four dissidents executed over the weekend.

In a video shared by pro-regime groups on social media, a mob can be seen throwing rocks and firing slingshots at the second-story apartment of Phyo Zayar Thaw’s parents in Yangon’s Kyauktada Township.

As some members of the crowd swear and shout the word “traitors,” one attacker can be heard screaming: “We will kill your whole family!”

Another video, also widely circulated on social media, shows a similar scene in front of the home of Ko Jimmy’s parents in Insein Township.

“You think your son is a martyr? What can you say about the bereaved family members of those your son killed?” shouts one man in the video, as others pelt the house with eggs.

According to a source who spoke to Myanmar Now on condition of anonymity, the group arrived in seven vehicles, including five light trucks, armed with knives and sticks.

Residents of both areas said that no effort was made by the authorities to disperse the crowds, despite the heavy military presence in Yangon since last year’s coup.

One observer noted that Phyo Zayar Thaw’s parents live a short distance from the colonial-era Secretariat building, where there is a checkpoint manned by soldiers.

The incidents appear to be in support of the junta’s official narrative regarding the executions, which have stunned many in the country and met with international condemnation.

They come just one day after junta spokesperson General Zaw Min Tun said at a press conference that the four individuals were executed for “criminal activities they committed and in pursuit of justice for the victims they killed.”

Mya Thaw, the father of Phyo Zayar Thaw, declined to comment on Wednesday’s incident.

“I request everyone to understand our situation,” he said.

Thazin Nyunt Aung, the partner of Phyo Zayar Thaw, expressed concern for the safety of his parents.

“I am extremely worried about them now… We all need to help his parents,” she said.