The wife of pro-democracy figure Kyaw Min Yu, sentenced to be executed on the orders of Myanmar's ruling generals, says that if her husband dies he will take with him the beliefs he has carried throughout a life spent fighting dictatorship.
Kyaw Min Yu, better known as Jimmy, and former lawmaker and hip-hop artist Phyo Zeya Thaw are set to be the first people since 1988 to be executed judicially in Myanmar.
Kyaw Min Yu's wife, Nilar Thein, said her husband, a political prisoner for 18 years under Myanmar's last military dictatorship, was being made an example of for refusing to cooperate with his captors. Asked if Kyaw Min Yu was involved, his wife said she would not acknowledge the military's portrayal of him, but said the whole country was involved in a revolt, against the generals' "terrorist acts".Several foreign governments, including the United States and France, and rights groups have fiercely criticised the planned executions.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations , appealed in a letter this month to junta leader Min Aung Hlaing not to carry out the executions, relaying deep concern among Myanmar's neighbours.