US, UK, Canada To Sanction Myanmar Officials Involved In Prosecuting Aung San Suu Kyi

The head of the Myanmar junta, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The United States, Britain and Canada have imposed sanctions on more officials in Myanmar, a year since the Myanmar military seized power and plunged the country into chaos. After sanctioning Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing and other members of the junta, they are now targeting judicial officials involved in the prosecution of ousted Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday, January 31 said the coordinated action showed international support for the Myanmar people. "This further increases accountability for the coup and violence carried out by the regime," he said, as quoted by ANTARA.

He was referring to the nearly 1.500 people killed and 10.000 detained by the military seeking to gain control of Myanmar.

The US Treasury added a total of seven individuals and two entities to the sanctions list on Monday. They include the junta's attorney general, Thida Oo, whose office is said to have made politically motivated accusations against Suu Kyi.

Suu Kyi is on trial in more than a dozen cases. So far, he has been sentenced to six years in prison on a number of charges. He denies all charges made against him.

The US Treasury also listed the chairman of Myanmar's Supreme Court and chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission, which it said was also involved in the prosecution of Suu Kyi and leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party.

Based on that action, the US froze all assets belonging to the blacklisted parties. In addition, American citizens are prohibited from dealing with these parties.

"As long as the regime continues to deny the democratic voice of the Burmese people, we will continue to impose costs on the military and its supporters," US President Joe Biden said in a statement Monday, condemning Myanmar's military rulers.

Washington also sanctioned a Myanmar army procurement directorate for buying weapons from abroad, arms dealer Tay Za and his two adult sons, as well as KT Services & Logistics Company Ltd and its Chief Executive Jonathan Myo Kyaw Thaung.

The company, which the US says leases a port in Yangon from a military-owned company for three million dollars a year, is part of the KT Group, a conglomerate that has done business with companies from Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines.

Canada, meanwhile, announced it would add the same three judicial officials to its sanctions list. Britain announced it had added the junta-appointed head of Myanmar's corruption commission and attorney general and chairman of Myanmar's election commission to a similar list.

Paul Donowitz, campaign leader at advocacy group Global Witness, said the announcement of the sanctions by the US, UK, and Canada served as a reminder to "the Myanmar business community that there are consequences for facilitating arms purchases and military business interests."

However, Donowitz argues the measures fail to target revenues from Myanmar's natural gas, which is the junta's biggest source of foreign currency. Myanmar's military has detained Suu Kyi and members of the NLD party since the February 1, 2021 coup.

The military argued that the coup was carried out because there was fraud in the November 2020 elections, which the NLD won by a landslide. Meanwhile, the election commission said the vote had reflected the wishes of the Myanmar people.