The military regime announced on Monday that Min Aung Hlaing assumed the role of president after Myint Swe took medical leave to receive treatment for “neurological disorders and peripheral neuropathy” at his home in Naypyidaw on July 18.
Myint Swe, 73, became Burma’s acting president following the Feb. 1, 2021 military coup. He had previously served as vice-president under the National League for Democracy (NLD) government from 2016 to 2021.
Min Aung Hlaing, 68, takes on the role of president and executive of the National Defence and Security Council (NDSC) as the state of emergency, renewed every six months since the 2021 coup, is set to expire. The NDSC meets July 31 to decide whether to extend it a seventh time.
Under the military’s 2008 constitution, elections must be held within six months of the lifting of the state of emergency. Min Aung Hlaing has pledged to hold an election in 2025.
“We are preparing to conduct a census of the population and households in October, [while] preparations are also being made to hold a free and fair multi-party democratic general election next year,” Min Aung Hlaing told regime officials on June 15.
Commemoration for four democracy activists executed in 2022
Anti-coup groups unfurled a banner off of a bridge near Yangon Central Railway Station on Tuesday to commemorate the two-year anniversary of the execution of four pro-democracy activists; Phyo Zeyar Thaw, Kyaw Min Yu “Ko Jimmy,” Hla Myo Aung, and Aung Thura Zaw who were killed by the regime’s prison authorities on July 23, 2022.
The Sanchaung Strike Group and the Yangon Revolution Force stated that its members hung a banner on the Pansodan Street overpass which read: “There will be no end as long as the world lasts”, which is an expression used by anti-coup protesters to commemorate those killed since the 2021 military coup.
The U.S. Embassy in Burma shared photos of its Chargé d’Affaires Susan Stevenson laying flowers at the Fallen Heroes Memorial, located in the embassy compound near Inya Lake. It contains over 4,500 stones laid for each person killed by the military since 2021. Phyo Zeyar Thaw, Ko Jimmy, Hla Myo Aung, and Aung Thura Zaw were accused of “terror acts” and became the first political prisoners to be executed in Burma since 1988.
News by Region
BAGO—Around 600 inmates, including political prisoners, were transferred from Yangon’s Insein Prison to Daik-U Prison (Kyaiksakaw) on Sunday. The transfer came after prison authorities discovered that the prisoners had commemorated Martyrs’ Day without approval from prison authorities on July 19.
“They were transferred in six cars. They held a Martyrs’ Day event in Insein on July 19 and were planning to hold an [Aug. 8, 1988 commemorative] event. Those who were actively involved in activism were selected and moved,” a Kyaiksakaw resident who has a relative at Daik-U prison told DVB.
CHINLAND—The Chin Brotherhood claimed that six of its members were killed and 120 military personnel, including family members, were detained after it seized control of Matupi town on June 29. Police officers, soldiers and children are among the detainees.
“We rescued some of them from the forest after they fled. We are providing food, medical assistance and shelter,” said a Chinland Defense Force (CDF) Matupi spokesperson. “Some of the children, including infants, lost their parents. We will take care of them until we find someone who can adopt them,” he added.
MANDALAY—The annual Taungbyone Festival has been canceled by organizers this year due to the fighting between the military and the Mandalay People’s Defense Force (MPDF) in Madaya, Singu and Mogok townships. “We are unable to arrange everything as the roads are blocked,” said Htay Aung, the chairperson of the Taungbyone Festival committee.
It announced in June that the festival would be held Aug. 12-19 in Madaya Township. Regime authorities allowed it to take place last year despite security threats. The Taungbyone Festival is in honor of two prominent spirits from Burmese animism and it attracts both worshippers and spirit mediums.
SHAN—Two civilians were killed and at least three were injured in retaliatory airstrikes carried out by the military on Laukkai, the capital of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone in northern Shan on Tuesday, the Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN) reported.
“A hotel and many buildings were destroyed,” said a Laukkai resident. One civilian was killed and another was injured by airstrikes on July 14 before the Brotherhood Alliance’s Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) announced a temporary ceasefire at China’s request.
